美國三州公民投票支持同性婚姻

Maryland, Maine, Washington approve gay marriage

中國日報網 2012-11-09 09:14

Keesha Patterson of Ft. Washington, Maryland (bottom) proposes marriage to her girlfriend Rowan Ha (C) during the election night victory rally at re-elected President Barack Obama headquarters in Chicago, November 6, 2012.(Agencies)

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Voters in Maryland, Maine and Washington state approved same-sex marriage on Tuesday, marking the first time marriage rights have been extended to same-sex couples by popular vote.

The vote was hailed as a watershed moment by gay rights activists. While same-sex unions have been legalized in six states and the District of Columbia by lawmakers or courts, voters had consistently rejected doing so. Voters in more than 30 states have approved constitutional bans on gay marriage.

"We made history and sent a powerful message that we have truly reached a tipping point on gay and lesbian civil rights in this country," said Brian Ellner, head of the pro-gay marriage group The Four. "By winning for the first time on marriage at the ballot box, we made clear what national polls already show — that Americans support fairness and equality for all families."

President Barack Obama this year became the first US president to support gay marriage. His campaign endorsed the gay marriage measures in the three states.

In Maryland, the measure passed 52 percent to 48 percent. In Maine, voters supported the proposal 53 percent to 47 percent, with 75 percent of precincts reporting. And in Washington, a gay marriage measure was approved 52 percent to 48 percent.

In all three states, the marriage equality effort did better in urban areas and were less popular among rural voters.

The constitutionality of restricting marriage to unions between a man and a woman is widely expected to be taken up by the US Supreme Court soon.

James Esseks, director of the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project, called the votes a "watershed moment" for gay and lesbian families.

"Not long ago, marriage for same-sex couples was unimaginable," he said. "In a remarkably short time, we have seen courts start to rule in favor of the freedom to marry, then legislatures affirm it, and now the people vote for it as well."

Before this year, ballot initiatives banning the legal recognition of same-sex marriage had succeeded in 31 states, and no state had ever approved same-sex marriage by popular vote.

(Read by Brian Salter. Brian Salter is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)

美國馬里蘭州、緬因州、和華盛頓州的選民本周二投票認可了同性婚姻合法化，這是首次通過選民直接投票的方式支持同性婚姻合法化。

此次投票被同性權利支持者稱贊為標志性時刻。盡管美國有六個州及哥倫比亞特區的立法者或法院都已通過了同性婚姻合法化，但選民投票一直反對。美國有30多個州的選民都支持憲法對同性婚姻的禁令。

同性婚姻聯盟“The Four”的領導人布萊恩-艾而納說：“我們創造了歷史，發出了強烈的訊息，那就是我們已經達到了承認同性權利的臨界點。這是我們首次通過投票贏得同性婚姻權利，我們很清楚全國投票告訴了我們什么，那就是美國人民支持所有家庭的公平和平等。”

美國總統奧巴馬今年成為首位支持同性婚姻的總統。他在競選活動中支持上述三個州的同性婚姻措施。

在馬里蘭州，同性婚姻措施的支持率為52%。在緬因州，投票支持同性婚姻提議的選民占到53%，參選的選區占到了75%。在華盛頓，支持同性婚姻措施的選民占到52%。

在三個州中，城市地區更能接收同性婚姻與異性婚姻平等，而這一觀念在農村地區選民中則沒有那么受歡迎。

多數人預計，美國最高法院不久就會討論如何處理憲法規定婚姻必須為異性結合一事。

美國公民自由協會同性戀、雙性戀與變性人項目主管詹姆斯-埃塞克斯稱此次投票對同性家庭來說是“標志性時刻”。

他說：“就在不久之前，同性婚姻還是不可想象的。在這么短的時間里，我們就看到法院開始支持婚姻自由，接著立法機關也肯定了這一點，現在人們也開始投票支持了。”

在今年之前，31個州的公民投票都禁止承認同性婚姻的合法地位，從來沒有哪一個州的公民投票支持同性婚姻。

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（中國日報網英語點津 Julie）

Vocabulary:

watershed: 標志轉折點的，分水嶺

tipping point: 臨界點，量變到質變的分界點

precinct: <美>選區；管轄區；界限，范圍

take up: 開始處理；討論如何處理

ballot initiative: 公民投票，創制權投票

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