美国国家公共电台 NPR--Democrats' push to protect same-sex marriage is personal for Sen. Tammy Baldwin

Democrats¹' push to protect same-sex marriage is personal for Sen. Tammy Baldwin

Transcript²

The Supreme³ Court's decision to overturn Roe⁴ v. Wade⁵ didn't just disrupt abortion⁶ access across the country. It also raised concerns that other landmark⁷ rulings — including those legalizing birth control and same-sex marriage — could be next.

While Justice Samuel Alito stressed in his opinion that the legal logic⁸ behind the Roe decision would not apply to other cases, Justice Clarence Thomas has suggested otherwise. He wrote in his concurring⁹ opinion that future cases "should reconsider all of this Court's substantive¹⁰ due process precedents," specifically listing those that protect contraception, same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage.

Democrats in Congress are now working to codify¹¹ those protections into law, starting with marriage equality. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., is at the forefront of that effort in the Senate.

The task is especially personal for Baldwin, who in 2012 made history as the country's first openly gay person (and first Wisconsin woman) to be elected to the Senate.

"There's an old adage¹² that if you're not in the room the conversation is about you, if you're in the room the conversation is with you — and that makes all the difference," Baldwin says. "I'm experiencing that right now. People who might have said this is just a political issue understand that for somebody in the LGBTQ community, it's a personal matter."

The Supreme Court's 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges established a right to same-sex marriage across the U.S. — one that plaintiff Jim Obergefell now worries is on shaky ground. He's one of many LGBTQ advocates who wants Congress to protect these rights at the federal level.

"If Congress can't step up and say, these are the rights we believe in, these are the fundamental rights, the human rights, the civil rights that deserve protection, if not from the Supreme Court under law, then what is worth fighting for?" he told NPR's All Things Considered last month.

The Respect for Marriage Act, which would enshrine same-sex and interracial marriage in federal law, passed the House of Representatives last week. While 47 Republicans voted in favor, other GOP critics have portrayed¹³ the bill as unnecessary, dismissing it as election-year politics and downplaying the threat of future Supreme Court action.

The bill now faces the challenge of getting through an equally divided Senate, where 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster¹⁴. All Democrats are already on board, and President Biden is urging the Senate to send it to his desk for a signature as swiftly as possible.

Baldwin is leading the charge to secure the 10 Republican votes needed to pass the measure. She's been working behind the scenes to try to whip up support from her Republican colleagues, including confronting Sen. Marco Rubio on an elevator after overhearing him call the bill "a stupid waste of time."

She says five Republican senators have signaled their support so far, and is optimistic that others will follow.

"The conversations are very hopeful, and I will say that a number of Republicans have privately¹⁵ agreed to support the bill, but not publicly," she tells Morning Edition's Leila Fadel. "And so we don't want to bring it to the floor until we know that we can pass the legislation, with the 60 requisite¹⁶ votes."

It's hard for me to speak for everybody and their motivation, but I think there's some uncertainty¹⁷ among my Republican colleagues as to whether the bill actually will get to the floor and receive a vote, and so that leads to some hesitance to publicly declare one's stance.

In the years since the Supreme Court made marriage equality the law of the land in the Obergefell decision, more and more of my colleagues have friends, family, coworkers, staff members who are married to a same-sex partner. That really changes, I think, one's focus. Even if years ago there was some hesitance to support marriage equality, it's now part of most people's everyday reality to know somebody who has married in order to provide legal protections for their family.

[Public support for same-sex marriage has reached an all-time high of 70%, according to a Gallup poll released in June, the first in which a majority of Republicans approves.]

On why federal action is needed to protect marriage equality

It's a different Supreme Court today than it was in 2015, and certainly I know so many who are very worried about the certainty of their marriage. Marriage confers with it rights and responsibilities that allow you to protect your family, to access your spouse¹⁸, say in the hospital in a medical emergency — without marriage you're a legal stranger, with marriage you have that access. And that's one of just hundreds of examples of what a marriage confers, in terms of those rights and responsibilities. I know that there's a high level of urgency to protect marriage and marriage equality.

This interview was conducted by Leila Fadel, produced by Shelby Hawkins and edited by HJ Mai.

1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

5 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

6 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

7 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

8 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

9 concurring   

同时发生的，并发的

参考例句：

• Concurring with expectations, the degree of polymorphism was highest in the central. 正如所料，多型性程度在中部种群中最高。
• The more an affect arises from a number of causes concurring together, the greater it is. 同时凑合起来以激起一个情感的原因愈多，则这个情感将必愈大。

10 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

11 codify   

v.将法律、法规等编成法典

参考例句：

• The noble,Dracon,was asked to codify the laws.贵族德拉古被选为立法者。
• The new government promised to codify the laws.新政府应允要编纂法典。

12 adage   

n.格言，古训

参考例句：

• But the old adage that men grow into office has not proved true in my experience.但是，根据我的经验，人们所谓的工作岗位造就人材这句古话并不正确。
• Her experience lends credence to the adage " We live and learn!"她的经验印证了一句格言: 活到老，学到老！

13 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

15 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

16 requisite   

adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the requisite qualifications for the job.他不具备这工作所需的资格。
• Food and air are requisite for life.食物和空气是生命的必需品。

17 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

18 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？