Galaszyz housing referendum, 1899

From the Other Universe
Jump to navigationJump to search
This article is a stub. It's in the process of being expanded.
Galaszyz housing referendum, 1899
Electorate 197,192
Turnout (90.03%) 177,533
Do you support a law to make
housing discrimination on sexual orien-
tation grounds unlawful in Galaszyz?
Voting options Votes %
✔ Yes 105,579 59.47
✘ No 71,564 40.31
Invalid votes 390 0.22
Source: Rsza Provincial Government

Voters in the city of Galaszyz held a binding referendum on making housing discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation unlawful within the city limits on 28 May, 1899. This binding referendum was the first of its kind, and was a part of a broader movement of provincial and city-based housing discrimination reform that swept the Western Kryfona Kingdom in the late 1890s. It is generally considered to be a cornerstone moment for LGBT rights in the province of Rsza.

The Galaszyz city council put forward the idea of the referendum and voted to advance it during a period of sweeping reforms within the Western Kryfona Kingdom on the issue of housing reform. The cities of Tvaqyr and Rszei had previously passed laws in a similar vein in 1894 and 1896 respectively, and on a larger scale the provinces of Vrlxsena and Tauba had also passed legislation abolishing discriminatory practices in housing in 1894 and 1897. Laws at the time were also making their way through provincial legislatures in the region as well, although many of these laws would ultimately fail. As with other laws of the sort during the period, there was significant opposition from Royalists. Efforts to block the referendum by Royalists were levied after the city council put them forward, but were shut down by a district court. When these efforts failed, Royalists mobilized in the area to try and vote down the bill. Support for the bill was levied primarily by LGBT groups, with support from the Loyalist delegation of the province in the Kryfonsparliszaiye and the provincial Loyalist delegation of Rsza.

In spite of the Royalist Party's opposition to the referendum, the referendum saw succeeded by a margin of 59-40 and saw 90% turnout, one of the highest turnout rates in the history of the city. The city council voted unanimously to approve legislation the following day, 29 May, 1899; Galaszyz as a consequence became the third major city to abolish housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.