臺灣首例佛化同性戀婚禮:影響幾何?大綱
The marriage over the weekend of a Taiwanese lesbian couple in the island's first Buddhist same-sex wedding has sparked debate about just how far Taiwanese society has progressed in its treatment of homosexuals.
8月11日，臺灣舉行首例同性戀佛化婚禮，激起了有關臺灣社會對待同性戀問題的開放程度的熱議。
Huang Mei-yu and Yu Ya-ting, both 30, exchanged vows at a Buddhist monastery in Guangyin Township in northern Taiwan on Saturday in a ceremony attended by more than 100 guests but not the couple's parents, according to local media reports.
據當地媒體報道，今年都是30歲的黃美瑜和遊雅婷8月11日在臺灣北部的觀音鄉，依照傳統佛教儀式舉行了婚禮。現場共有100多位來賓觀禮，但兩對新人的父母均未出席。
Taiwan has long been celebrated as for its embrace of the homosexuality. Host to the biggest gay pride parade in Asia each year, the capital city of Taipei was named one of Asia's top 10 gay-friendly travel destinations in May by the website .
臺灣對同性戀持較爲開放的態度，歷來頗受讚賞。臺北市每年會舉辦亞洲規模最大的同性戀遊行，5月份被同性戀旅遊網站評爲亞洲十大同性戀友好旅遊目的地之一。
When he was mayor of Taipei, Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou even presided over several group gay weddings an act that would have been almost unimaginable as late as 1997, when gay men were still subject to identity checks in certain parts of the city.
臺灣地區領導人馬英九在擔任臺北市市長期間，還曾主持過幾場同性戀集體婚禮。這在1997年以前根本難以想象，那時候，同性戀男子想進入臺北的某些地方還需要接受身份證檢查。
But Taiwan falls short, activists say, when it comes to taking what many regards as the most important step in protecting gay rights: legalizing same-sex marriage.
但活動人士稱，臺灣還有做得不足之處，沒有采取在很多人看來對保護同性戀權利最重要的一步：促成同性戀婚姻的合法化。
'Public awareness and acceptance of homosexual community is rising, but the fight for legalization of for same-sex marriage remains an uphill battle,' said Kuan Yu, a staff member at the Taiwan Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Family Rights Advocacy, the group that helped organized the wedding.
臺灣同志家庭權益促進會(Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy)的工作人員Kuan Yu表示，“現在公衆對同性戀人羣的認識和接受度都在不斷提升，但爲同性戀婚姻爭取合法化的努力仍然困難重重。”該促進會幫助組織了黃美瑜和遊雅婷的婚禮。
Despite Mr. Ma's past a gay rights advocate, the president's party, the Kuomintang (or Nationalist Party), has shied away from pushing the legalization of gay marriage.
雖然馬英九認可了一項同性戀權利倡議，但他所在的執政黨國民黨仍不願推動同性戀婚姻的相關立法。
In 2006, legislator Hsiao Bi-khim of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party proposed a bill to recognize same-sex marriages but it was returned due to insufficient signatures. Since then, neither party has made any new efforts to revive the proposal.
民進黨籍立法委員蕭美琴曾在2006年提出同性婚姻法草案，但因簽名人數不足而被駁回。此後，兩黨均無任何重提該草案的新行動。Ms. Kuan, 29, who came out of the closet to her family two years ago, said the community doesn't expect any headway to be made in the near term but will still push for a passage of the bill in the next legislative session starting September.
今年29歲的Kuan Yu兩年前向家人坦承了自己的同性戀取向。她表示，短期來看，估計在同性戀權益方面很難取得進展，但臺灣同志家庭權益促進會仍將進行努力，推動有關草案在立法院從9月份開始的下一會期內通過。
'Our goal is to draw attention to the issue of universal human rights to be with the person you love and to stir up discussion on the issue,' she said.
她說，“我們的目標是引起大家對於‘同相愛的人在一起’這個普世人權的關注，並促進關於這個問題的討論。”
James Yang, a spokesman for Gin Gin Store, one of the first bookstores dedicated to the LGBT community and sexology in the Chinese-speaking world, blames the legislators of turning a deaf ear. 'The legislators are representatives of the people's will and how much have they done much to represent our interest? Not a whole lot,' he said.
華人圈內首家同志主題書店晶晶書庫(Gin Gin Store)的發言人楊平靖譴責立法委員們在這個問題上裝聾作啞。他說，“立法委員應該是民意的代表，而這些人做過些什麼來爲我們爭取權益呢？根本沒做過什麼。”
That's unfair, said Wu Yu-sheng, a KMT lawmaker, who argued the gay community is the one that has been slow about promoting their cause.
國民黨籍立法委員吳育昇則辯稱，這樣的指責是不公平的。他表示，同性戀社團纔是行動遲緩的一方。
'Many of my colleagues and I are open to discussing the issue, but I have never received any request from the gay rights lobbying groups to have a discussion,' he said.
他說，“我的很多同僚以及我本人都很樂意討論這個問題，但我從未收到過來自任何同性戀權益遊說團體要求討論這個問題的訴求。”
The debate surrounding same-sex marriage in Taiwan has nothing to do with intolerance of different sexual preferences, but is about pragmatic issues such as inheritance and child rearing, Mr. Wu said, adding 'it will take a long while before a consensus is reached.'
吳育昇表示，在臺灣，關於同性戀婚姻立法的討論與對不同性取向的包容度無關，而是與遺產和兒童教養等問題一樣，是很務實的事情，“需要很長時間才能夠達成某種一致意見”。
In the absence of legal recognition, will other gay couples follow Huang and Yu's example and walk the Buddhist path toward marriage?
那麼，暫時得不到法律上的認同，其他同性戀伴侶會效仿黃美瑜和遊雅婷，選擇佛化婚禮嗎？
Chao Shi-hui, the Buddhist master that performed Saturday's wedding, said there is no hard rule on homosexuality in Buddhism, which holds that the central tenets in any strong relationship are purity and selflessness qualities that aren't determined by sexual orientation.
爲黃美瑜和遊雅婷主持婚禮的昭慧法師表示，佛教對同性戀問題並無明確教規教義，佛教強調在任何密切關係中所應秉持的基本原則是純淨、無私，而這些都與性取向無關。
'What they [Ms. Huang and Ms. Yu] did was very inspiring,' Ms. Chao said. 'But I haven't received any other requests for more gay weddings because, truthfully, courageous people like them are still quite few.'
昭慧法師表示，黃美瑜和遊雅婷的選擇非常令人鼓舞，但她還沒有收到其他任何希望舉辦同性戀婚禮的請求。坦白來講，“像黃美瑜和遊雅婷這樣有勇氣的人並不多。”
