美国三州公民投票支持同性婚姻

Maryland, Maine, Washington approve gay marriage

中国日报网 2012-11-09 09:14

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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)

美国马里兰州、缅因州、和华盛顿州的选民本周二投票认可了同性婚姻合法化，这是首次通过选民直接投票的方式支持同性婚姻合法化。

此次投票被同性权利支持者称赞为标志性时刻。尽管美国有六个州及哥伦比亚特区的立法者或法院都已通过了同性婚姻合法化，但选民投票一直反对。美国有30多个州的选民都支持宪法对同性婚姻的禁令。

同性婚姻联盟“The Four”的领导人布莱恩-艾而纳说：“我们创造了历史，发出了强烈的讯息，那就是我们已经达到了承认同性权利的临界点。这是我们首次通过投票赢得同性婚姻权利，我们很清楚全国投票告诉了我们什么，那就是美国人民支持所有家庭的公平和平等。”

美国总统奥巴马今年成为首位支持同性婚姻的总统。他在竞选活动中支持上述三个州的同性婚姻措施。

在马里兰州，同性婚姻措施的支持率为52%。在缅因州，投票支持同性婚姻提议的选民占到53%，参选的选区占到了75%。在华盛顿，支持同性婚姻措施的选民占到52%。

在三个州中，城市地区更能接收同性婚姻与异性婚姻平等，而这一观念在农村地区选民中则没有那么受欢迎。

多数人预计，美国最高法院不久就会讨论如何处理宪法规定婚姻必须为异性结合一事。

美国公民自由协会同性恋、双性恋与变性人项目主管詹姆斯-埃塞克斯称此次投票对同性家庭来说是“标志性时刻”。

他说：“就在不久之前，同性婚姻还是不可想象的。在这么短的时间里，我们就看到法院开始支持婚姻自由，接着立法机关也肯定了这一点，现在人们也开始投票支持了。”

在今年之前，31个州的公民投票都禁止承认同性婚姻的合法地位，从来没有哪一个州的公民投票支持同性婚姻。

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（中国日报网英语点津 Julie）

Vocabulary:

watershed: 标志转折点的，分水岭

tipping point: 临界点，量变到质变的分界点

precinct: <美>选区；管辖区；界限，范围

take up: 开始处理；讨论如何处理

ballot initiative: 公民投票，创制权投票

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