Divided Swiss to vote on same-sex marriage after fraught campaign

FILE PHOTO: A flag is pictured ahead of a vote on same-sex marriage in Bern, Switzerland, September 8, 2021. Picture taken September 8, 2021. Flag reads: "Yes, I will". REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss voters decide on Sunday whether to allow same-sex couples to wed and adopt children after a highly charged campaign pitted gay rights activists against traditionalists in one of the last Western European countries to still ban gay marriage.

The federal government and parliament have approved opening civil marriage to same-sex couples, but opponents forced a referendum on the issue under Switzerland's system of direct democracy.