 Many of the French Language Charter's provisions expanded on the 1974 Official Language Act.The protective language law outlawed the public display of English, making French signs obligatory, regulations that would later be overturned in the course of court challenges.A first referendum on sovereignty was held in 1980 (under the leadership of Lévesque the YES side lost with 40.44% of the votes), and a second in 1995 (with Lucien Bouchard, Jacques Parizeau and Mario Dumont as leaders, when the YES campaign narrowly lost at 49.42%).