The 2007 Alslandic Same-Sex Marriage referendum took place on 15 June 2007 in Alsland to ask the electorate whether Alsland should legalise same-sex marriages. Prior to the referendum same-sex couples were allowed to enter civil unions and foreign marriages were recognised. The government of Jabik Nieuwenhuis promised a referendum on same-sex marriage in their manifesto for the 2005 General election. The referendum resulted in 59.3% of votes being cast in favour of legalising same-sex marriage. The resulting Marriage Act 2007 was passed nearly unanimously in the Folkssenaat and was signed by President Onne Monsma on August 11, 2005. The act came into force on November 23 2007 the day after Jabik Nieuwenhuis was removed from office by Onne Monsma. The first same-sex marriage ceremony in Alsland occurred on November 29 2007.
On 14 June 2007, the day before the scheduled date of the referendum and the final day of campaigning, Tilman Schricker a 42 year old man from Garz attempted to stab Premier Jabik Nieuwenhuis with a 12 inch Kitchen Knife at a campaign visit in Werdau. Nieuwenhuis escaped injury after Schricker stabbed a police officer in the shoulder who had been preventing Schricker from approaching Nieuwenhuis. Schricker was detained immediately after this and Nieuwenhuis was evacuated. Campaigning was suspended nationwide for the rest of the day.
When questioned following his arrest, Schricker didn't cite the referendum as a cause for the attempted assassination but it was later revealed that Schricker was a member of the anti-LGBT Stadtbäumer Foundation which had vigorously opposed the referendum. However initial reports in the media said the attempted assassination was motivated by the decision to hold the referendum and Nieuwenhuis' support for same-sex marriage.
Result
National result
2007 Alslandic Same-sex Marriage referendum
Choice
Votes
%
Yes
3,935,311
59.3
No
2,705,508
40.7
Valid votes
6,640,819
99.6
Invalid or blank votes
29,151
0.4
Total votes
6,669,970
100.00
Registered voters and turnout
7,963,944
83.8
Referendum results
Yes: 3,935,311 (59.3%)
No: 2,705,508 (40.7%)
▲
Result by Province
Breakdown of voting by province
Province
Yes
No
Invalid
Votes
%
Votes
%
Delland
950,928
63.2%
541,668
36%
0.8%
Fawkhamshire
378,737
54.8%
310,315
44.9%
0.3%
Garz
580,737
55.4%
480,104
45.8%
0.8%
Hamptonshire
591,191
61.2%
364,181
37.7%
1.1%
Martiland
284,287
51.8%
260,688
47.5%
0.7%
Middewald
352,279
65.3%
185,040
34.3%
0.4%
Yndyk
378,286
71.3%
149,086
28.1%
0.6%
Zittau
418,866
49.8%
420,592
50%
0.2%
Aftermath
Marriage Act 2007
Reactions
Criticism
Plans to hold a referendum were criticised by several LGBT rights advocacy groups who called the decision to have the majority vote on the rights of a minority group. During initial debates on holding a referendum, Senator Emo Akkerman who is openly Bisexual said that holding a referendum could set a dangerous precedence for other countries to deny LGBT citizens their rights if a referendum is held. Akkerman voted to hold the referendum during the vote on the issue.
In 2011, Premier Jonathan Fraser criticised the move to hold a referendum saying that the process would have been much faster had the Marriage Act 2007 been voted on in the Folkssenaat where there was overwhelming support for it. Fraser was outed as Gay in 2003 and was one of the most prominent figures within the 'Yes' campaign.
Alsland
Yes
No
Yes
0.7%
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