"Love Life" campaign goes to federal court
The 35 children and young people who opposed the federal government's "Love Life" campaign are taking the matter to federal court. They are disturbed by the depiction of sexual acts.
However, the Federal Administrative Court considered them not entitled to appeal. The minors announced the referral to the Federal Supreme Court on Tuesday. The group of four- to 17-year-olds and their parents are supported by the Christian-oriented foundation Zukunft Schweiz. They assume that the sexual acts of homosexual and heterosexual couples shown in the TV commercial of the "Love Life" campaign of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) can endanger the development of children and adolescents. In the summer of 2014, they therefore filed a complaint against the campaign with the FOPH and demanded that it be stopped. The FOPH did not act on this, whereupon the group took the case to the Federal Administrative Court in St. Gallen.
Not affected
The judges ruled that the children and young people, or their legal representatives, were not entitled to lodge a complaint. For this to be the case, they would have to be more affected by the campaign than the general public. They would therefore have to suffer a special disadvantage for there to be any interest worthy of protection at all. According to the Federal Administrative Court, this is not the case. For this reason, the FOPH was right not to hear the appeal. According to the communication of the children and adolescents, the lawyer of the complainants is convinced that the minors as a whole represent a clearly definable group. In the interest of a healthy development, they should be protected from sexualized images and video films more than the general public. (SDA)
