台湾首例佛化同性恋婚礼:影响几何?

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，台湾举行首例同性恋佛化婚礼，激起了有关台湾社会对待同性恋问题的开放程度的热议。

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.
据当地媒体报道，今年都是30岁的黄美瑜和游雅婷8月11日在台湾北部的观音乡，依照传统佛教仪式举行了婚礼。现场共有100多位来宾观礼，但两对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 gaytravel.com.
台湾对同性恋持较为开放的态度，历来颇受赞赏。台北市每年会举办亚洲规模最大的同性恋游行，5月份被同性恋旅游网站gaytravel.com评为亚洲十大同性恋友好旅游目的地之一。

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.
台湾地区领导人马英九在担任台北市市长期间，还曾主持过几场同性恋集体婚礼。这在1997年以前根本难以想象，那时候，同性恋男子想进入台北的某些地方还需要接受身份证检查。

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.
但活动人士称，台湾还有做得不足之处，没有采取在很多人看来对保护同性恋权利最重要的一步：促成同性恋婚姻的合法化。

'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.
台湾同志家庭权益促进会(Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy)的工作人员Kuan Yu表示，“现在公众对同性恋人群的认识和接受度都在不断提升，但为同性恋婚姻争取合法化的努力仍然困难重重。”该促进会帮助组织了黄美瑜和游雅婷的婚礼。

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.
虽然马英九认可了一项同性恋权利倡议，但他所在的执政党国民党仍不愿推动同性恋婚姻的相关立法。

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.
民进党籍立法委员萧美琴曾在2006年提出同性婚姻法草案，但因签名人数不足而被驳回。此后，两党均无任何重提该草案的新行动。