Switzerland Decisively Votes to Legalise Same-Sex Marriage

History has been written in Switzerland this week after the country went to the polls to decisively back same-sex marriage, with 64% of the population backing the move to introduce legislative equality.

In the run-up to the vote, conservative groups had warned that passing the reform risked damaging the 'traditional family unit' and posed a risk to children.

Thanks to the vote, Switzerland now becomes the 30th country globally to adopt same-sex marriage, after previously allowing couples to enter civil partnerships since 2007.

The first marriages are expected to take place from next July, but in the meantime same-sex couples will now have greater access to adoption and IVF rights to start their own families.

"It is a historic day for Switzerland, a historic day when it comes to equality for same-sex couples, and it is also an important day for the whole LGBT community," Jan Muller, of the "yes" campaign committee, told AFP news agency.

Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter confirmed the timeline for marriages to take place.

"Whoever loves each other and wants to get married will be able to do so, regardless of whether it is two men, two women, or a man and a woman," she said.

But it was not all smiles. Monika Rueegger, a politician with the right-wing Swiss People's Party and an opponent of the measure, said children and fathers were the losers.

"This was not about love and feelings," she told Reuters. "It was about children's welfare."