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Gay marriage
同性婚姻
Be my rock in Little Rock
在小巖城成為我堅固的磐石
The gay-marriage juggernaut rolls on
同性婚姻勢不可擋
WHAT do Arkansas and Idaho have in common? Both have rural charm—Idaho's licence plates even boast of its “Famous Potatoes”. Both vote Republican in presidential elections. And both have just legalised gay marriage.
美國阿肯色州和愛達荷州有什么相同之處？他們都擁有迷人的田園風光—愛達荷州的汽車牌照甚至還炫耀自己“有名的土豆”。他們都在總統大選中投了共和黨人的票，而且都把同性婚姻合法化了。
In both states, the decision was made by a judge rather than voters, and could be reversed. But it is getting harder to see same-sex nuptials as an odd new custom confined to coastal liberal bastions. If the new rules in Arkansas and Idaho stand, that would make it 19 states plus Washington, DC that now recognise marriage equality. Over 70 lawsuits, in nearly every state that does not yet allow gay marriage, are working their way through the courts, encouraged by a Supreme-Court ruling last year striking down the federal Defence of Marriage Act.
在這兩個州，這個決定都是由法官下的，而不是選舉人，而且決定可以被撤銷。現在同性戀婚姻已經越來越難以被認為僅僅是局限在沿海自由堡壘的風俗了。如果阿肯色州和愛達荷州的新條例成立的話，這將會使十九個州包括華盛頓承認婚姻平等。如今共有超過七十起分布在幾乎所有尚未允許同性婚姻的州的法律訴訟正在通過法庭努力，它們受到了去年最高法院裁決的鼓勵，該裁決駁回了“聯邦婚姻保護法案”—一項禁止聯邦政府承認同性婚姻的法案。
It has all happened faster than campaigners dared to hope. In Arkansas, a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage passed ten years ago with 75% of the vote. Social conservatives were elated, expecting the law to stand indefinitely. But on May 9th Chris Piazza, a circuit judge in Pulaski County, ruled the ban unconstitutional.
事情變化如此之快，而這甚至超過了同性婚姻呼吁者的預期。在阿肯色州，一個禁止同性婚姻的州憲法修正案于十年前獲得75%的選票通過。社會保守派人士對此歡欣鼓舞，期待該法案無限期有效。但在5月9號一名普瓦斯基郡的巡回法官克里斯·皮亞薩裁決這個禁令違憲。
Religious conservatives were shocked. Mike Huckabee, an ex-governor of Arkansas, called for Judge Piazza to be impeached. Jerry Cox, president of the Arkansas Family Council, said: “The marriage of one man to one woman has been a cornerstone of western civilisation for thousands of years... once people start redefining marriage, there seems to be no place to stop.”
宗教保守派都非常震驚。阿肯色州的一名前州政府官員麥克·赫卡比呼吁控告皮亞薩法官。阿肯色州家族委員會的主席杰里·考克斯說：“男人與女人之間的婚姻幾千年來都是西方文明的基石…一旦人們開始重新給婚姻下定義，看起來就不會再停止了。”
Mr Piazza's ruling opened the door for all 75 counties in the state to issue marriage licences to gay couples. Most county clerks opted not to, noting that the ruling, confusingly, failed to address another state law that banned issuing such licences. But some 450 same-sex couples queued up in Pulaski and four other counties to get their precious pieces of paper. “We were hopeful that the law would be overturned some day, but we were completely stunned...that it came when it did,” says Barbara Hall, who married her long-time partner on May 12th in the courthouse rotunda. “We already had plans to marry in New York this summer after a ceremony here in Little Rock, never imagining a day when we could marry here.”
皮亞薩的裁決為該州75個郡打開了給同性情侶頒發婚姻許可證的大門。大部分郡書記官都選擇了拒絕聽從，指出該裁決令人困惑，未能處理其他禁止頒發此類婚姻許可證的州法律的問題。但有450對同性情侶在普瓦斯基和其它四個郡排隊等候以獲得那張寶貴的證書。“我們滿懷希望，希望有一天州法律可以徹底改變，但是我們非常震驚…在這件事確實發生的時候，”芭芭拉·霍爾說，她于5月12號和她的長期伴侶在法院的圓形大廳中結婚了。“我們已經計劃在小巖城的儀式之后就于今年夏天去紐約結婚，我們從未想過還能在這里結婚。”
