In 1566, Bartholomé Tecia, a 15-year-old student in Switzerland, was found guilty of homosexuality after being reported for making advances towards two fellow students.
According to historical records, he was sentenced to death and drowned in the River Rhone in the centre of Geneva, reflecting the laws and social attitudes of the time.
Tecia’s story was unearthed centuries later in official government archives. Playwright Jean-Claude Humbert later brought his life and death to the stage in a play first performed in 2008.
In 2013, on the anniversary of Tecia’s death, a commemorative plaque was placed on the banks of the river. At the unveiling, Marcia V. J. Kran, Director of the Research and Right to Development Division of the United Nations Human Rights Office, reflected on the enduring power of his story.
“In 1566, as Bartholomé was led to his death, no one stood, as we stand today, to decry the state-sanctioned killing of a child on suspicion of homosexuality,” Kran said.
“No one was prepared, as we are today, to challenge homophobic prejudice, to insist on the equal worth and equal rights of every person, irrespective of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
“It would be beautiful to think that out of this one sad, lonely death in the Rhone, more than four centuries ago, might come some good; that passers-by who see this plaque will pause and reflect on the folly of homophobia; and that we can all draw from Bartholomé’s story the strength to continue our modern-day struggle to achieve equality for LGBT people everywhere.”
Homosexuality was decriminalised in Switzerland in 1942, nearly four centuries after Tecia’s execution.
OIP Staff, this story was first published in 2022 and has been updated.
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