万花筒 2009-05-30&05-31 加州通过同性恋禁令

The state Supreme¹ Court upholding, Proposition 8, but still allowing those 18,000 same sex marriages to remain valid². Joining us on the phone right now is Jessica Garrison³, a Los Angeles Times reporter. Jessica, if some of our viewers are just joining us right now, can you run down the actual announcement that we heard from the court today?

Absolutely, well what the court did by a vote of 6 to 1 is upheld Proposition 8, which was the amendment⁴ to State constitution, re-banning  same sex marriage. And then by a vote of 7 to 0, it said that the estimated 18,000 couples who married in California between June and November were still legally married.

What's some of the reaction you guys at the Times are getting in right now? As you know, California, as I know, growing up there, California is a very divided state with some areas like Orange County being very conservative, next to Los Angeles county being quite liberal.

Well, I'm actually in South Los Angeles at the Lucy Corin's cafe where a bunch of gay activists⁵ and religious leaders are gathered. And there, there was about a 30 seconds of, just kind of, sadness among them when the decision came out, and then they immediately began talking about the next campaign. So, pretty much they’re vowing⁶ to go right back to the ballot⁷, as soon as November of 2010, to try to re-amend the constitution to re-allow same sex marriage.

So basically another proposition they are talking about?

Well, I mean I think whatever the form of it is still to be decided⁸, but yeah, they are planning to go back to the ballot. And you know, people are using words like apartheid to describe the state that they feel that gay couples are in right now, and they were saying that this, I think, the head of Equality California used the word, miscarriage⁹ of justice.

And why, Jessica, are they saying this is a, in their words, a miscarriage of justice. Are they more hinging on the visceral reaction or they are talking about the actual ballot initiative of being quite confusing in, of its wording, and also the fact that this some opponents are saying this shouldn't have been a proposition in the first place, this should have been a constitutional convention.

Well, I think that when they’re saying miscarriage of justice they are describing the visceral reaction. I, you know, I think the ballot measure, according to the court, certainly followed the law, which is why they are upset... But people are certainly deciding to go back. I mean, people are... The focus now is on organizing the politics to go back to the ballot in 2010.
 

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 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

3 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

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 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

7 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 miscarriage   

n.失败，未达到预期的结果；流产

参考例句：

• The miscarriage of our plans was a great blow.计划的失败给我们以巨大的打击。
• Women who smoke are more to have a miscarriage.女性吸烟者更容易流产。