中國非異性戀者維權案件引發關注

Beijing is facing two important test cases on gay and transgender rights this week as China’s traditionally conservative attitudes to sexual and gender orientation are transformed by economic development and globalisation.

北京方面本週面臨涉及同性戀和跨性別者權利的兩起重要判例案件。經濟發展和全球化正轉變着中國對於性和性別傾向的傳統保守態度。

A court in the central Chinese city of Changsha will on Wednesday hear what could be the country’s first gay marriage case. Sun Wenlin, a 27-year-old employee of an internet company, is asking the court to overrule a local authority that denied him the right to marry his partner, a 37-year-old security guard he met online. Mr Sun’s case argues that Chinese law does not specify that marriage must be between a man and a woman, it only calls for marriage between “one husband and one wife”.

在華中的長沙市，一家法院週三將審理中國可能首起同性婚姻案子。27歲的互聯網公司員工孫文林請求法庭推翻當地民政局拒絕爲他和他在網上結識的伴侶、一名37歲的保安辦理結婚登記手續的決定。孫文林的主張是，中國的《婚姻法》並未明確規定婚姻必須是一男一女，而只說中國實行一夫一妻的婚姻制度。

Mr Sun’s lawyer, Shi Fulong, says he cannot predict success but the case will at least raise the public profile of the issue. “This is the first case of its kind in China . . . A problem can’t be solved if no one knows about it,” he told the Financial Times in an interview.

孫文林的律師石伏龍表示，他無法預測訴訟結果，但本案至少會提高公衆對這個問題的意識。“這是中國同類案件中的第一起……如果沒有人知道問題存在，問題就不會解決，”他在接受採訪時對英國《金融時報》表示。

Gay marriage has become a vexed political issue in many western countries in recent years but in China the social stigma attached to homosexuality remains widespread.

同性婚姻近年成爲許多西方國家一個爭論不休的政治話題，但在中國，針對同性戀的社會歧視仍普遍存在。

“In China, gays living together is a fact of life, but I don’t see a breakthrough in terms of the law anytime soon. Many homosexuals still suffer for being gay, some live together secretly or have children in heterosexual marriages,” says Du Pingru, a Beijing marriage law practitioner who says he has handled some such marriages that end in divorce.

“在中國，同性戀者同居是一個既成事實，但我看不到法律方面很快會有突破的跡象。許多同性戀者仍然因爲是同性戀而遭遇痛苦，有的偷偷住在一起，或者與異性成家，還有孩子，”北京婚姻法執業律師杜平汝（音）表示。他介紹說，他曾接手以離婚告終的此類婚姻的案子。

“Despite long odds in winning this time, in a country where most LGBT people still decide to enter into opposite-sex marriages due to social pressure and stigma, the bravery of this couple is sending a signal to both the local LGBT community and greater China that our ideals around love and marriage are worth struggling for — and something that can be achieved in our lifetimes,” said Steven Paul Bielinski, founder of WorkForLGBT, a non-profit network for Chinese LGBT employees.

“在多數LGBT（女同性戀者、男同性戀者、雙性戀者與跨性別者的英文首字母縮寫。在現代用語中泛指所有非異性戀者人士——譯者注）在社會壓力和歧視之下仍決定進入異性婚姻的中國，儘管眼下要贏得勝利的希望不大，但這對伴侶的勇敢行爲向當地LGBT羣體乃至整個中國發出了一個信號：我們對愛情和婚姻的理想值得爲之鬥爭，而且這種理想在我們的有生之年是可以實現的，”面向中國LGBT員工的非營利網絡“上海同志商務”(WorkForLGBT)的創始人畢信樂(Steven Paul Bielinski)表示。

On Monday in the southwestern city of Guiyang, an employment arbitration panel heard what is believed to be another first in Chinese gender rights cases: a workplace discrimination case involving a transgender employee sacked for dressing like a man after being born a woman. “Mr C”, 28, is seeking an apology and compensation.

週一，在中國西南部的貴陽市，一個勞動仲裁委員會開庭審理了被認爲是中國性別權利案件中另一起開創先河的案子。這起工作場所歧視案件涉及一個跨性別者，因爲生理上是女性卻愛穿男裝而被單位辭退。現年28歲的“C先生”要求獲得道歉和賠償。

“My sales job performance was in no way negatively affected by appearance. To fire me for this reason is to discriminate against me,” the plaintiff, referred to as “Mr C”, told a local newspaper.

“我的銷售工作業績根本沒有受到外表的負面影響。因爲這個原因解僱我是對我的歧視，”被稱爲“C先生”的原告對當地一家報紙表示。

Like the gay marriage lawsuit in Changsha, the Guiyang transgender arbitration may fail in law but succeed in the court of public opinion, legal experts and gay activists said.

法律專家和同性戀活動人士表示，就像長沙的同性婚姻訴訟一樣，貴陽的跨性別仲裁案也許無法贏得法庭的支持，但將在輿論法庭上取得成功。

“The transgender employment discrimination case is an enormous step forward regardless of the outcome,” Mr Bielinski said. “This suit has been widely covered by not just online media but also local print and TV broadcast news. This case is raising awareness and will surely inspire LGBT employees to become more visible at work”.

“無論結果如何，跨性別就業歧視案都是向前邁出的一大步，”畢信樂表示。“該案獲得廣泛報道，不只是網絡媒體，也得到當地紙媒和電視新聞的報道。這起案件正在提高人們的意識，必將鼓舞LGBT員工在工作場合展現更真實的自我。”

Homosexuality has a long history in the middle kingdom and was practised by some ancient Chinese emperors. But it was later outlawed and then declared a mental illness

同性戀在中國有着悠久的歷史，古代一些皇帝也有同性戀行爲。但後來被禁止，之後被宣告爲一種精神疾病。

Since 2001 it has been legal and no longer treated as a mental illness, and in the past two to three years Chinese companies have started targeted advertising — especially on China’s social media platforms — towards the new “pink renminbi” market. Taobao, Alibaba’s eBay-like online marketplace, held a Valentine’s Day contest last year that sent seven gay Chinese couples to California to get married, since same-sex marriage is illegal in China.

自2001年以來，同性戀被視爲合法，不再當作一種精神病來治療。過去兩三年裏，中國企業開始面向新的“粉紅人民幣”市場投放針對性的廣告，尤其是在中國的社交媒體平臺上。阿里巴巴(Alibaba)旗下類似於eBay的在線市場淘寶(Taobao)曾在去年舉辦一場情人節競賽，把7對中國同性戀伴侶送到加利福尼亞結婚，因爲同性婚姻在中國是非法的。