Nine US Supreme Court Justices have ruled that the gay marriage ban is unconstitutional and have legalized same-sex marriage across the fifty states of the US. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yu Mei-nu remarked, “I hope that our grand justices can also base their decisions on the Constitution, not just public opinion polls, and reach a milestone for gender equality in Taiwan in the near future.”
Gay actor Ian McKellen, who played Magneto in the X-men films, rejoiced at the news and without hesitation accepted fellow actor Derek Jacobi’s marriage proposal. McKellen has frequently spoken out for the gay community, but, in fact, did not come out of the closet until he was forty-nine, which he regretted bitterly. He believes that if he had come out much earlier, he would have turned into a completely different person.
Exiled Chinese democracy activist Wang Dan published his opinion on Facebook, saying that it is through prolonged and arduous effort that this step has finally been achieved; the legalization of same-sex marriage in the US shows the world that the US’s insistence on basic values and its capacity to tolerate diversity have not abated. Wang said, such a capacity is the foundation on which the US, or any nation in the world, depends to establish itself as a nation. The US not only realizes gay rights, but also reached a social consensus that says “all men are created equal.” This is a principle so holy that no obsolete customs, religions or political doctrines should be allowed to violate. Lastly, Wang gaily called out to the Bread of Life Christian Church and the Alliance of Religious Groups for the Love of Families Taiwan, “Welcome to the civilized world.”
Photo: Provided by EMI Music
照片：EMI 提供
Lawyer Lu Chiu-yuan said the US is the biggest Christian country in the world, hence the US Supreme Court’s ruling is worth celebrating, but it would be foolish to think that this will help Taiwan take a big step forward in gender equality. “The reason is, we have elected a group of irresponsible legislators,” said Lu. “In the future four to eight years, Taiwan’s gender equality movement will be in the hands of the legislators and grand justices. However, none of the four new grand justices recently ‘elected’ by the legislature are liberals; all of them are conservatives.“
Lu urged those who care about gender equality movements not to just rainbow-ify their Facebook profile pictures, but to remember to elect those who can really represent them in next year’s elections; those elected politicians will then select the best grand justices, who will counteract majority public opinion, which is prone to errors, for the sake of disadvantaged minority groups.
(Liberty Times, translated by Ethan Zhan)
Photo: Screen grab from President Barack Obama’s Facebook
照片：翻攝自美國總統歐巴馬臉書
美國最高法院九名大法官做出判決，宣告剝奪同性結婚的權利與憲法牴觸，同性伴侶婚姻在全美五十州都合法。民進黨立委尤美女表示，「希望我們的大法官也能以憲法為念，而非只看民調，在不遠的未來寫下屬於台灣的性別平等新頁。」
在《X戰警》飾演「萬磁王」的同志演員伊恩麥克連（Ian McKellen）得知後非常開心，立刻接受同為演員的德雷克雅可比（Derek Jacobi）求婚。伊恩麥克連常為同志族群發聲，但他其實是到了四十九歲才公開出櫃，對此他相當後悔，他認為若是早點出櫃，自己一定會變成一個很不一樣的人。
中國民運人士王丹於臉書發文表示，這一步走得慢長、艱辛；美國同性婚姻合法化，讓大家看到美國對「基本價值的堅持」、「多元包容的能力」並未衰退。他認為，如此的能力是美國，也是任何一個國家的立國之本。不僅爭取到同志的權利，更爭取到「人人生而平等」的社會共識，「這是神聖的原則，不容許任何舊習俗，宗教和政權破壞」。最後，王丹也笑著向靈糧堂、護家盟表示：「歡迎進入文明世界。」
律師呂秋遠表示美國是最大的基督教國家，因此美國最高法院的判決是 值得慶賀的一件事，但認為這樣就對台灣的性別平等往前進一大步，是在痴人說夢。「因為我們選出了一群不負責任的立委！」呂秋遠說到台灣往後4年到8年的性別平權運動，都操縱在立法委員與大法官手中，但最近立委『選』出來的四名大法官手上，沒有一名自由派，通通都是保守派。
呂秋遠呼籲關心性別平權運動的人，不要只是換上彩虹圖，要銘記在心，在明年選出想要政治人物，再經由這些政治人物，選出最好的大法官，為弱勢的少數族群制衡經常會犯錯的多數民意。
（自由時報）
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