Christophe Darbellay, Swiss Politician, Compares Gay Adoption To Cocaine Use

A leading Swiss politician has sparked an uproar among international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocates by comparing gay adoption to drug use.

As Swiss news soruce The Local is reporting, Christophe Darbellay, head of the center-right Christian Democrats (CVP), made the offending comments just as Switzerland's Council of States voted in favor of changing the law to make it easier for same-sex couples to adopt children. At present, same-sex couples cannot adopt, and partners are barred from adopting the other's biological children.

“I wouldn’t suddenly legalize cocaine just because half a million people consume it,” he told Le Temps newspaper last Friday.

Officials from various European LGBT rights associations said they were left dumbfounded by the remarks. "His homophobia shocks us," Chatty Ecoffey, co-president of the Association For Rainbow Families, told the German language 20 Minuten newspaper, according to The Local.

Darbellay has since fought back against the criticism. "I didn't want to insult anyone," he told 20 Minuten. "I simply wanted to say that just because something exists, does not mean that it has to be legalized,”

Comments

[dbrett480]

02:37 PM on 11/30/2011

Weird analogy, but I have heard similar ones used by marijuana activists.

[knott wrench]

07:52 PM on 11/25/2011

Hey, "Meadow Muffin Heads Christophe Darbelle, "Head of the 'Christian Democrats' (CVP)" are you that Stupid enough to equate a Drug Addition to offering to raise a Child an "Addiction.

The two don't correlate, except your "Muffin Brain".

Glad to read that the law is changing in Switzerland. More children are now going to be raised in homes.

[Houston Rainbow Herald]

12:38 PM on 11/24/2011

Education and our willingness to confront ignorance is the key

[LintLass]

12:20 PM on 11/23/2011

Ah, that 'parenting high.' Do not operate heavy machinery. It's that good. :)

[kyri]

05:03 AM on 11/23/2011

Luckily, the religious parties are losing voters at every election, especially in urban areas. In the canton of Zürich the perdominantly catholic Christian Democrats are down to just 5%, the centrist protestant Evengelical party is at 3% and the also protestant right-wing Federal Democratic Union is at 2.2%. (Switzerland has proportional elections and thus a large palette of parties.)

On a national level, the Christian Democrats still have some influence as they are part of a never-ending four-party coalition and are over-represented in the Senate, thanks to their still considerable backing in the tiny rural cantons. But Darbellay has just helped to alienate another round of voters. Secularists should be grateful ;-)

(blogpost in German on the subject: http://kyriacou.ch/2011/11/darbellay-lasst-christliche-tradition-wiederaufleben-homophobie/)

[BeninOakland]

01:28 AM on 11/23/2011

Hello, Switzlerand?

One of your clocks is missing its cuckoo.

[Isis10]

12:36 PM on 11/23/2011

And a village missing an idiot.

[DMSmith]

11:43 PM on 11/22/2011

"I simply wanted to say that just because something exists, does not mean that it has to be legalized,”
And I simply want to say that because someone is in office, does not mean that he's moral, sane, or worth two seconds of your time.

[rockysparks]

10:29 PM on 11/22/2011

When Switzerland stops adding all that addictive sugar to their chocolate, they can start lecturing the rest of the world about cocaine and gay adoption ...

[raanghaus]

08:25 PM on 11/22/2011

i guess having kids drives a person to do drugs?

[wolfdogNM]

08:03 PM on 11/22/2011

And just how does gay adoption have anything to do with cocaine use per se? More non-sense I suppose.

[Isis10]

12:37 PM on 11/23/2011

I didn't make the connection, either.

[PMVB]

07:08 PM on 11/22/2011

I,m surprised that Switzerland has people like this politician. I thought it was a forward-looking country.

[JSDKoeln]

01:46 AM on 11/23/2011

hardy, believe me. Very conservative and closed society.

[Isis10]

12:41 PM on 11/23/2011

That's hard to believe considering they were the ones that accepted Freddie Mercury's statue when England wouldn't allow one put up. Have no idea if it has anything to do with his bi-sexuality or not but just sayin.

[Coffee4Me]

05:33 PM on 11/22/2011

Of the things in the world to equate adoption to he chooses cocaine? Interesting subconscious.

[Eric Jeffrey]

04:57 PM on 11/22/2011

And just because millions of people like Darbellay are so stupid is no reason not to have schools.

[dakotanprudle]

04:49 PM on 11/22/2011

Ignorance does exist in other countries government. Then the government in this country, USA, has some pals.

[hollace]

04:18 PM on 11/22/2011

.did all those German Nazi's who had the same opinion flee to Switzerland?