Swiss political party launches Man-Woman-Child Family Pride campaign. Response from Church ranges from scepticism to hostility
Man-Woman-Child family: EDU launches values campaign against Zurich Pride
With slogans like "Father, mother, child. A lifetime #PRIDE", the conservative party, EDU has launched a values campaign. And it did so just on the day of Zurich Pride. It is defending itself against "penetrating LGBTQ propaganda". And propagates a traditional family concept. A classification in the Christian environment.
Around 70,000 people peacefully celebrated diversity at Zurich Pride on 17 June. They demonstrated for more visibility, for inclusion and against discrimination. The motto this year was "Let's talk about it".
Counter-proposal against "penetrating LGBTQ propaganda".
The Federal Democratic Union - EDU for short - obviously also needed to talk. This is a Christian and national conservative political party in Switzerland. Just on the day when the multicoloured and flag-waving LGBTQ* community paraded through the centre of Zurich, the party launched its values campaign. It proclaimed a "clear counter-proposal to the LGBT propaganda that is becoming more and more obtrusive".
Man or woman? That is not decisive at Zurich Pride
The matching posters can be found on the advertising screens at the main station, among other places. They show a father, a mother and a child. In doing so, they clearly demonstrate the party's stance against any other kind of diverse life and family forms. The ads also feature slogans such as "Father, mother, child. A lifetime #PRIDE" or "Christian values, charity, marriage and family #PRIDE".
Leaning on the festival
The word "Pride" as a synonym for the gay pride is not protected, only the trademark "Zurich Pride Festival". Legally, therefore, there is nothing to prevent the EDU from adapting this wording and using it in a different context.
However, Jill Nussbaumer, co-president of Zurich Pride, is not entirely clear why the party, which is obviously a thorn in the side of the rainbow parade, nevertheless uses the same term in its choice of words. "We find it exciting that the EDU perceives us so strongly and has to lean on our festival," she says.
Jill Nussbaumer perceives this as a kind of "cry for help". "The EDU has an active voter base of about 25,000 people in Switzerland. There were 70,000 people at our Pride. Perhaps the party has noticed that it is losing relevance and has therefore taken a targeted swipe at the LGBTQ* community."
Tolerance and respect
The co-president of Zurich Pride cannot understand this. "We are in no way threatening Christian values. On the contrary. We want everyone to be able to develop freely, that includes traditional families. The goal should be to tolerate and respect each other," affirms Jill Nussbaumer.
The hosts and guests of the intercultural women's meeting place "Café Dona", which is based in the Reformed City Church Offener St. Jakob, took a similar view. They stood on the balcony of the parish hall of the Reformed Church Zurich dressed in rainbow colours during the Zurich Pride parade and waved to the demonstrators.
The deacon in charge, Monika Golling, tells kath.ch: "The Citykirche Offener St. Jakob stands up for diverse ways of living and loving and for a colourful, inclusive manifesto of values that does not exclude or devalue anyone because of their faith, skin colour, origin or way of life. Golling further emphasises: "The fact that the Pride on the balcony was supported and celebrated by women in solidarity is entirely in our spirit".
Hate is not an opinion
With its campaign, the EDU also launched a petition to collect signatures for its eight-point values manifesto. Potential signatories are asked to declare their support for creation and for the protection of the family as the "smallest natural cell of our society". Furthermore, they should stand up for marriage between a man and a woman and for the protection of life "from conception to natural death".
No should be said to "transgender ideology" and to "left-wing feminism", to the "ideological indoctrination" of children - i.e. no more drag queen lectures. In addition, according to the EDU manifesto, all censorship laws and cancel culture should also be abolished. Expressing critical opinions is not the same as hate speech.
Jill Nussbaumer strongly disagrees: "The renewed anti-racism penal norm of 2020 defines exactly when discrimination happens and what falls under freedom of expression. Hate is not an opinion". This is also the opinion of Magdalena Thiele, Communications Officer of the Catholic Church in the Canton of Zurich. For her, the EDU campaign is petty and silly.
Enough space for everyone
"There is no prototype of family. I find it absurd that this party is apparently afraid of something that does not threaten or question the traditional family at all. God has made this world so diverse and colourful, there is enough room for everyone," said the communications worker.
For Magdalena Thiele, upholding Christian values in society also means showing charity and tolerance. "As I understand the New Testament, it teaches us not to reject people because they are different from the norm. Those are the very people Jesus accepted for who they are," she notes.
In the letter accompanying the campaign, the EDU accuses Switzerland of, among other things, "pinkwashing" and speaks of a "political programme to transform the Western social order". Pinkwashing" is when companies advertise that they are committed to the LGBTQ* community and diversity, but do not do so in reality.
Companies are doing something
"We hear this accusation again and again, it's nonsense. At Zurich Pride, employers walk together with their employees. They don't just talk about creating good conditions for everyone, they actually do something. That means a lot to the employees," explains Jill Nussbaumer.
Even the umbrella organisation of the Protestant free churches in Switzerland - the Swiss Evangelical Alliance (SEA) - cannot find much good in the campaign. On request, the SEA states that it does not comment on the political programme of political parties. But then Daniela Baumann, head of communications, does comment on it.
"Of course Christian values are important to us and we are also committed to them, for example for healthy marriages and families with our 'Marriage + Family Forum' working group or for freedom of opinion with 'Christian Public Affairs'," says Baumann. But the SEA stands up for Christian values because "we consider them per se to be the basis for a successful life - and not to oppose other views, as is the case with the EDU campaign".
Catholic representation was absent
So it looks like the EDU is a bit alone with its opinion in the church environment as well at the moment. From the Reformed to various free churches, almost everyone was represented at Pride. "There are many different faiths at the demonstration and many people want to change something within the structures of their churches. Maybe the EDU also feels threatened because they don't want exactly this change in their own religious circles," explains Jill Nussbaumer.
As a Catholic, the Pride Co-President only missed the Catholic Church at the parade. "I would have liked to see the Catholic Church as a separate group. Perhaps those responsible were too busy with the preparations for the Pride service on Sunday, which, by the way, was again very well attended," says Nussbaumer.
Magdalena Thiele also missed"her church", as she wrote in a comment on the homepage of Katholisch Zürich. "I don't know why there was no Catholic representation this year - what a pity. The Catholic Church, as an important social actor, should not be absent from an event in which all of Zurich participates," she says.
Cathcon: The EDU scores a few percent in Swiss elections but has some influence due to single-issue referendums which are part of the Swiss system.
.jpeg)
Comments