Switzerland, a country which has long held a stance of neutrality in its relations with other nations, has not been immune to the movement of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens. Prior to the 20th century, sodomy and other types of sexual intercourse between people of the same sex was held in various levels of legal contempt. Today, the modern LGBT rights movement in Switzerland is related to the larger international movement which developed largely after 1969. Pre-modern history With the Christianization of Switzerland from the 3rd century AD, sodomy (anal intercourse), and especially homosexuality, were seen as two of many sins. The first ever unequivocal legal basis for the punishment of homosexuality in Switzerland is the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, variations of which were introduced in many cantons of the Confederation by 1532. Even before that, in the 13th century, criminal prosecution and execution of men accused of practising the "sodomite vice" and penalties for sodomy increased significantly in Europe. Between 1400 and 1798 in the Canton of Zürich alone, out of a total of 1,424 death sentences, 179 were given after sodomy allegations, making it the third most common offence punished by the death sentence after theft and homicide. Even so, the number of people condemned to death for homosexual acts in the Swiss Confederation was relatively low compared to that in Italian cities in the fifteenth century. In the German-speaking cantons of the Confederation, homosexuality was considered a "Gallic" sin. Men who were convicted of sodomy often admitted to have taken to French-or Italian-speaking countries to practise their homosexual behaviour. Conversely, abroad the Swiss were often reviled and, insulted as a people who had sex with cows, as a play on their rural origins. (Note: in modern Germa, "Sodomie" refers to bestiality, whereas in contrast, in the Middle Ages the term was used to refer to very different practises which were seen as "unnatural" at that time, mainly anal intercourse, so care must be taken in translation.) At the time of the Reformation, Catholics were often referred to as homosexuals, while those in favour of the Reformation were insulted in turn as "Kuhgeiger" ("cowfuckers"). As in other parts of Europe, most homosexual acts performed in the Confederation were pederastic (inter-generational). In court, it was more important what age the participants were rather than who had penetrated, in contrast to cities in southern Europe. Children and young