美國最高法院支持同性婚姻 同性伴侶可享平等福利

The Supreme Court’s first rulings on same-sex marriage produced historic gains for gay rights Wednesday: full federal recognition of legally married gay couples and an opening for such unions to resume in the nation’s most-populous state.

本週三，美國最高法院首次就同性婚姻作出判決，這意味着同性戀者權益取得了歷史性進步：在美國人口最多的紐約州，同性伴侶得到聯邦政府的承認，同性婚姻合法化。

But in striking down a key part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the court declared that gay couples married in states where it is legal must receive the same federal health, tax, Social Security and other benefits that heterosexual couples receive.

法庭駁回1996年《婚姻保護法》的關鍵內容，宣佈在同性戀婚姻合法的州，同性戀必須享有和異性夫妻同樣的醫療、稅收、社會保險以及其他福利。

In turning away a case involving California’s prohibition of same-sex marriage, known as Proposition 8, the justices left in place a lower court’s decision that the ban is unconstitutional. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said he would order same-sex marriages to resume as quickly as possible.

美國最高法院駁回一宗涉及到被稱爲8號提案的加州同性婚姻禁令的案件，認爲同性婚姻禁令違憲，並將其發回該州下級法院。州長傑瑞-布朗稱他督促恢復同性戀伴侶結婚的權利。

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joined the court’s four liberals in declaring unconstitutional DOMA’s prohibition on federal recognition of legally married couples.

法官安東尼-肯尼迪和法庭的四爲自由黨黨員一起，一同聲明《婚姻保護法》關於聯邦政府承認的合法夫妻的禁令是違反憲法的。

The decisions on the final day of the term set off a loud celebration in front of the court’s marble plaza and elsewhere in the country.

判決宣佈的最後一天，一場大型的慶祝活動在法庭前的大理石廣場和其他地方舉行。

Edith Windsor, a New Yorker who brought the suit against DOMA after she had to pay an estate tax following the death of her wife, Thea Spyer, said she burst into tears upon hearing the court’s decision.

這一訴訟由紐約婦女伊迪絲·溫莎提出。她在同性婚姻配偶西·斯佩爾過世後繼承遺產，但聯邦向她徵收遺產稅。伊迪絲·溫莎說自己在聽到法庭的這一判決時當場大哭。

President Obama, whose administration said it would not defend Section 3 of DOMA, because it believed the provision was unconstitutional, called Windsor and the challengers of Prop. 8 to congratulate them.

總統奧巴馬內閣稱不會支持《婚姻保護法》的第三部分，因爲他們認爲這個條款是違反憲法的，並給溫莎和8號提案的反對者致電祝賀。

In a statement written on Air Force One en route to Africa, Obama said,“This ruling is a victory for couples who have long fought for equal treatment under the law; for children whose parents’ marriages will now be recognized, rightly, as legitimate; for families that, at long last, will get the respect and protection they deserve; and for friends and supporters who have wanted nothing more than to see their loved ones treated fairly and have worked hard to persuade their nation to change for the better.”

奧巴馬在飛往非洲的空軍一號上籤署的聲明中說到：“這條法令對於那些一直爭取法律平等的同性戀者，對於父母的婚姻現在被合法化的孩子們，對於獲得本應得到的尊重和保護的家庭，對於那些別無所求、只希望看到他們深愛的朋友被平等對待，竭盡全力使他們的國家變得更好的人們來說，是巨大的勝利。”