The lower house of the Swiss parliament adopted a bill on Thursday that would allow same-sex marriage.
Despite opposition from conservatives, MPs also voted to allow lesbian couples to use donor sperm to get pregnant. The law still needs to be adopted by the upper house of parliament.
"With 132 votes for and 52 against and 13 abstentions, the National Council says YES to true equality #Ehefüralle!" tweeted the human rights organization Pink Cross using the hashtag meaning "marriage for all".
Activists point out that they have been waiting for this for a very long time.
Switzerland passed a law protecting lesbians, gays and bisexuals from discrimination only in February.
The bill came to parliament 13 years after Switzerland legalized civil partnership, Hina reminds.
A Pink Cross poll in February showed that more than 80 percent of Swiss people support same-sex marriage.
"In the future, marriage should be open to all couples of different and same sex, that is a proposal," said the Minister of Justice Karin Keller-Sater in the debate.
"The government welcomes the fact that this will remove today's inequality," she added.
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