2025 Summary Report: Swiss LGBTIQ+ Panel

2025 Summary Report: Swiss LGBTIQ+ Panel

Foreword

Over the past decade, legal and social developments affecting LGBTIQ+ communities have varied globally. Many regions have decriminalized consensual same-sex acts, xpanded protections for same-sex couples, implemented legal gender recognition based on self-identification, and prohibited non-consensual surgeries on intersex children. However, the year 2025 began with notable challenges for LGBTIQ+ communities. Some regions in Africa, parts of Asia, the United States, and Eastern Europe have shown retreating protections, while a well-funded global anti-gender movement has gained momentum and achieved legal victories. A major target of these restrictions are trans and nonbinary people. In Switzerland, although the majority still supports LGBTIQ+ people, polarization is increasing, evident in initiatives to limit gender-inclusive language and restrict gender-affirming care for trans youth. Against this backdrop, the Swiss LGBTIQ+ Panel conducted its sixth wave of surveys to capture the experiences of LGBTIQ+ people living in Switzerland. 

In this report, we present the main findings of the survey, including experiences with coming out, perceived safety, and experienced discrimination (Sections 1 and 2), as well as participation in LGBTIQ+ spaces (Section 3). We further report on experiences in workplaces, schools, apprenticeships, and higher education, as well as the situations of people who are unemployed, provide care for others, retired, or have long-term illness or disabilities (Section 4). Health and health behaviors are presented in Section 5, and Section 6 looks at how people perceive the situation for LGBTIQ+ people in Switzerland and their hopes for the future. Thanks to the support of the LGBTI Youth Fund, we added a section with a special focus on LGBTIQ+ youth (<26 years old).

Where relevant (e.g., experiences of discrimination), we provide separate statistics for sexual minority members (e.g., gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual people), gender minority members (e.g., trans people), and intersex people. Cisgender endosex heterosexual (hereafter endosex cis-heterosexual) allies were also invited to participate. The survey was available in English, German, French, and Italian. Thanks to the help of many LGBTIQ+ organizations, magazines, and people who shared our study widely through different media, 6,117 people replied to our questionnaire from January 2025 to August 2025.

The dataset allows for further analyses by age, region/major city, or subgroup, as well as longitudinal analyses. We have further data on sexual health, substance use, as well as access to and experiences in the health care context. While these analyses are beyond the scope of this report, additional results can be shared in workshops, invited talks, or via mandated reports.