PBS高端访谈:同性夫妻也有平等的结婚权

 　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Today's decision on marriage sent waves of reaction across the country, beginning with a large crowd gathered on the Supreme¹ Court steps.

　　Political director Lisa Desjardins takes us there.

　　LISA DESJARDINS: This is the decision from a very personal view, the view of Tom Fulton and Robert Westover, first hearing word.

　　LISA DESJARDINS: Then getting confirmation² that the Supreme Court had upheld their 13-year marriage.

　　TOM FULTON, Husband of Robert Westover: It's just very, very exciting. And…

　　ROBERT WESTOVER, Husband of Tom Fulton: We feel like it's just a surreal moment. It's hard to put it into words. I mean, 10 minutes ago, we were second-class citizens. And now we're equal in the eyes of this nation, this entire nation.

　　LISA DESJARDINS: The crowd was largely supporters of same-sex marriage. But the decision was also personal for opponents here, clashing with their faith and values. That included these Nebraskans on a Catholic mission.

　　MONICA REESON, Opponent of Gay Marriage: I'm against gay marriage. I am disappointed this happened. I believe marriage is between one man and one woman. And I think this will have a detrimental³ effect to society, and families and everything that we know.

　　LISA DESJARDINS: All those gathered, no matter the side they took, were looking to the future and what this ruling will mean for America.

　　ROBERT WESTOVER: Our lives have changed forever, and not only have our lives changed forever, but these young gay folks, gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual folks coming up, they are all going to now know what it's like to be full and inclusive citizens.

　　LISA DESJARDINS: As same-sex supporters celebrate, some opponents are now looking away from the court toward a possible constitutional amendment⁴ to try and overrule today's decision.

　　Lisa Desjardins, PBS NewsHour.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: We go inside the courtroom now. And our guide, as always, is Marcia Coyle of "The National Law Journal."

　　So, how did we get to this 5-4 decision?

　　MARCIA COYLE, The National Law Journal: OK, Hari, first, I would like to say, if people, our listeners and viewers, are really interested, they should read the decisions. They're easy to read. They're up on the court's Web site. And I think people will enjoy reading them.

　　I look at Justice Kennedy's majority opinion in basically three parts. First, he acknowledged that the tradition of marriage has been between a man and a woman for a millennia⁵. But he said that the nation's understanding of marriage has changed, as new generations embrace the development of freedom.

　　Then he moved to marriage is a fundamental right of the Constitution. And he said there are basically four principles that show why it's a fundamental right and where they apply with equal force to same-sex couples.

　　First, he said, inherent in the right to marry is the right to personal choice. Decisions about marriage are among the most important, most intimate that an individual can make, regardless of sexual orientation⁶. The right to marriage also includes the right to intimate associations. Back in 2003, the court struck down state anti-sodomy laws, saying that gays and lesbians had a right to enjoy intimate associations.

　　The right to marriage protects families and children. It gives them predictability, respectability, stability. Hundreds of thousands of children, Justice Kennedy said, are being raised by gay couples and feel, if their parents want marriage, that their family units are somehow lesser⁷ than those of opposite-sex couples.

　　And finally, he said, marriage is the keystone to our social order. It comes with benefits and obligations that these couples want. He moved then to the Constitution. The right to marry, the fundamental right is protected by the liberty and equal protection guaranteed under the 14th Amendment. State bans on same-sex treat gay couples unequally. And the states have offered no sufficient justification⁸ for that unequal treatment.

　　Finally, the Constitution's fundamental right to marry includes gay couples.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: And there's a section from the majority opinion I want to read here.

　　It says: "It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their hope is not to be condemned⁹, to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."

　　And he also — part of his — he actually quoted sort of the decision from 12 years ago as well.

　　MARCIA COYLE: Yes, he did.

　　In fact, with Justice Kennedy in particular, dignity and liberty are sort of essential to his jurisprudence. They marked his prior rulings involving gay and lesbian couples, three prior decisions that he wrote. And that's what he was really relying on here, the dignity that marriage confers.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: And there were also four dissents¹⁰. And that doesn't happen very often, but the four that didn't vote for this also individually wrote theirs.

　　I want to read something from Scalia's: "This practice of constitutional revision by an unelected committee of nine, always accompanied, as it is today, by extravagant¹¹ praise of liberty, robs the people of the most important liberty they asserted in the Declaration of Independence and won in the revolution of 1776, the freedom to govern themselves."

　　MARCIA COYLE: The sort of unifying¹² theme through all four separate dissents was that this is a decision that belongs in the democratic process, not to be made by the courts.

　　And Justice Kennedy did address that. Also, the dissents also said that the majority opinion is cutting off a debate that should continue within the American public. Justice Kennedy responded first by saying, this is not a new debate. The nation has been debating this for at least 40 years. There have been countless¹³ studies of gay couples' marriages, court cases, court decisions.

　　And he also said, we're talking about a fundamental right, and we don't leave to the electorate¹⁴ or to the democratic process the decisions about fundamental rights under the Constitution.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: And, finally, very briefly¹⁵, what was it like in the courtroom?

　　MARCIA COYLE: No one really expected the decision today.

　　The court sort of — it's not even — I can't call it a tradition, but it has, in past practice, saved — the biggest decisions have come out on the final day, which is going to be Monday.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Yes.

　　MARCIA COYLE: But as soon as Justice Kennedy, with — Chief Justice Roberts announced that Justice Kennedy would have the first opinion, we knew that it was probably going to be same-sex marriage. It was an emotional moment.

　　Many of the lawyers in the Supreme Court bar who were sitting there had worked on these cases. They saw where Justice Kennedy was heading. There was tears. After the decision was announced, there were hugs and handshakes.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Well, thank you, as always, Marcia Coyle.

　　MARCIA COYLE: My pleasure, Hari.

1 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。

2 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

3 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

4 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

5 millennia   

n.一千年，千禧年

参考例句：

• For two millennia, exogamy was a major transgression for Jews. 两千年来，异族通婚一直是犹太人的一大禁忌。
• In the course of millennia, the dinosaurs died out. 在几千年的时间里，恐龙逐渐死绝了。

6 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

7 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

8 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

9 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

10 dissents   

意见的分歧( dissent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even his dissents were widely quoted, and some prompted legislative changes. 甚至他那些异议也被广泛引用，而且有的还促成了法律上的修改。

11 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

12 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

13 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

14 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

15 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。