Switzerland

Personal stories

This section consists of personal anecdotes from people living in Germany. Remember to take it as stories, but they can point you where you can do more research.

Access to gender affirming care

Mandatory Health insurance covers everything, including all kinds of surgeries, voice training, HRT, the whole package. Waiting times are a bit long at times though (3 months, Bottom is like 1 year but I haven't checked in a while)

Cost of living

Extrordinarily high, but the basic social welfare system allows to survive, if you have disability pay (which is hard to get) you're allowed to live. Income is high too though. A single person sharing an apartment can live with 2000.- comfortably in the major cities. Don't move to the countryside.

Immigration rules

The usual. Marriage is the joker card, Work is easy in certain areas (IT for example), unsure about university these days.

Finding work

I'm unemployed due to disability, but I worked as a programmer a few years back. Try to not mention that you're trans if you can, or mention that you don't plan on any medical procedures. The field is rotten with systemic transphobia, meaning that they'll think you'll have a lot of sick days. It's perfectly legal to hide your medical intentions to them and they're unable to fire you once you made it through probation period. Never ever tell them you're planning to have a bottom surgery during probation period. They can fire you on the spot without giving any reason for it (had to learn this the hard way). Other then that, transphobia is pretty low.

Queer acceptance

In the cities of Bern and Basel, you are treated like a cis-person, even if you don't perfectly pass. Everyone is welcoming and helpful. Zürich and Winterthur are mixed, but generally alright. Anything east of that is redneck territory, don't go there. Anything in the west (french part) should be considered alright, but I haven't made any personal experiences there. Medically, you have the best support in the world, and the cities of Bern and Basel make you feel like you live in a freaking dream.

Language barrier

English is incredibly good, thanks to tourism. Filling out any forms or documentation requires a friend proficient in german though (especially if it's anything related to legal stuff)

Final notes

Switzerland is not perfect, but it's probably one of the most liveable places for trans people. I feel incredibly privileged for living here, especially in this specific city. Just don't go to the rural areas or the countryside, the hatred out there can be quite high, and there are places where you might be in actual danger. As a visitor or tourist, you'll be fine, but don't go living there.

Contact us

If you know about life in Sweden as an LGBTQ+ person or would like to ask us questions about Sweden, you can reach out to us using the contact form.