美国爱荷华州最高法院取消禁止同性结婚法律

美国爱荷华州最高法院取消禁止同性结婚法律

　　据美国有线新闻网报道，爱荷华州最高法院4月3日推翻了一项禁止同性结婚的法律，法官称该法律违反了同性恋群体有关宪法规定的结婚权利。

　　2005年，一个总部设在纽约的同性恋权利组织代表6对被剥夺结婚证书的同性恋“夫妇”先后起诉了美国爱荷华州波克县政府，称政府颁布的《兰不达法案》剥夺了他们的结婚权利。最后该案件在2007年上诉到了爱荷华州最高法院。2007年该州波克县地方法院法官罗伯特汉森宣判称，《兰不达法案》违反了宪法。汉森法官的裁决促使了随后有近24人在该州申请结婚证书，他们全部是同性恋。但是随后，爱荷华州最高法院认为，地方法院的判决违反了公平和三权分立原则，最终该案件和《兰不达法案》在州最高法院进行了辩论。

　　最后，经过长时间的辩论，最高法院首席法官玛莎称，高级法院将决定同性婚姻禁令是不是违反了国家宪法，以及《兰不达法案》是否犯了错误。最终，爱荷华州最高法院4月3日推翻了一项禁止同性结婚的法律，法官称该法律违反了同性恋群体有关宪法规定的结婚权利。

　　目前，在全美国只有马萨诸塞州和康涅狄格州允许同性结婚。加利福尼亚州曾经短暂允许同性婚姻，但随后又禁止。新泽西州和新罕布什尔州也发生了同性恋群体起诉州政府，诉求婚姻权利的案件。

CLEMENTINE FORD COMES OUT （FOR REAL）

YEP, SHE'S GAY! CLEMENTINE FORD COMES OUT (FOR REAL THIS TIME)

There's been some confusion about Clementine Fordlately, with a semi-retraction of her "coming out" inDIVA Magazine. Ford recently told TV Guide that she hadn't "come out" at all, and did not like to "label herself."

Today, she told The Advocate: "I am gay. "I just wanted there not to be this big emphasis on it."

"It’s funny," Ford said of her interview with DIVA. "I was having kind of rough day. My best friend sent me a text saying, 'You have to see this.' So, I went online to see this link and I read the comments and I go, 'They hate me!' When I did the TV Guide interview I was angry because there is the whole perception now that I came out and I went back in. And what upset me was I felt that because I did not 'come out' in that interview, I felt it was unfair to fans that bought the magazine expecting to get a tearful story that says, 'I’m gay.'

"I thought it was misleading, and now because I was upset by that cover, I am apparently back in the closet and people hate me."

Ford with her mother and L Word co-star Cybill Shepherd in December

So it's official: Ms. Ford is a lesbian, but did not feel she had officially "come out" or made a statement like that to DIVA. She opened up toThe Advocate, which gives me the impression she really felt she wanted to be fair to her fans and fans of The L Word, who were confused and upset by the possibility she had been ashamed of her sexuality or had closeted herself in anyway.

"There are people who get it, and get what my original meaning was," Ford told the magazine. "Just as I was talking about storylines being a nonissue on The L Word; it should just be these people are gay and it’s part of life. I think with that article, and what came across as ambiguity, was actually my attempt at making it a nonissue."

"Look, I am gay, and I just wanted there not to be this big emphasis on it."

Some other tidbits from the interview with The Advocate:

On The L Word being groundbreaking:

I was excited to be working. In terms of it being groundbreaking, I think in a way it’s a shame. I don’t think it should be groundbreaking; it should not be made into a thing. There should be gay couples on television and lesbian and transgender people on television. It should be something that is normal. It’s exciting that it was groundbreaking, but now where do we go?

On fans of The L Word:

I had people come up to me and say that it made a difference. Even people who are older than me would come up to me and tell me that to be a character, and come in to the story as someone who has a "stick up her ass" about so many things and the lesbian issue, and then to see that change, was good for them. I do think it’s difficult for a lot of women who have come from certain backgrounds who are expected to have a different life. It’s not easy, and you don’t know where to necessarily put things, and you are not sure and a little timid. I had a lot of people coming up to me telling me that it was nice for them to see someone going through that struggle and figuring their way.

Ford as Molly on The L Word

On talking to her The L Word co-stars about her new gig on The Young and the Restless:

I talk to Kate Moennig all the time, and she was the first person I told. She told me congratulations.

On Prop. 8:

We have all heard it, where people have coined the phrase “straight marriage,” and that is a big thing for me. It’s like, “Why is it different? Get over it.” If you don’t want to have a gay marriage, don’t have one. Don’t marry someone of the same sex, but let me do it if I want to!" Ellen and Portia became poster children for gay marriage because we don’t have a lot of people that are representing this. There are still those walls, and there are those people who say, “Hide who you are. Be careful. Don’t be too gay.” I think a lot of that, and the media feeding into that, is part of the reason that Prop. 8 passed.

Clementine Ford is not only out, but she seems to be proud, too. Ladies, we officially have a new celesbian. Welcome to the club, Clem.

— by Trish Bendix

瑞典成全球第七個允许同性婚姻國家

瑞典以压倒性多数通过允许同性结婚的法案

          瑞典议会于4月1日以压倒性多数票通过了有关允许同性之间结婚的法案。在表决中，共有261名议员投了赞同票，投反对票的仅有22人，此外，还有16名议员弃权。此前，瑞典国内对该法案的讨论已持续了3年时间。

            基于这一法案，瑞典的婚姻法律定义将从一对男女异性之间被改为不限定性别的两个人之间，从而实现对同性婚姻的承认，也保障同性婚姻与异性婚姻享有平等的地位和权利。法案同时允许教会人员有权自行选择是否为同性恋人主持婚礼仪式。

　　这项允许同性之间结婚的法案将于今年5月1日正式生效。


　　瑞典执政联盟在今年年初便已制定了有关取消婚姻法中对双方性别限制的法律草案。


　　需要提醒的是，在最近几年中，包括丹麦、挪威、荷兰、法国等一系列欧洲均已通过了有关允许同性之间登记为伴侣关系的专门法律。但由于存在着一系列限制，在这些国家中，这种所谓的“伴侣关系”还称不上是完全的婚姻关系。


　　全球首个允许同性结婚的国家是荷兰，在其之后，比利时和其他一些欧盟成员国也先后采取了相同的举措。除此之外，荷兰还在2001年允许同性婚姻家庭收养子女。

Sweden allows same-sex marriage

Sweden will allow homosexuals to legally marry from May this year after parliament on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move.

The change in the law, which currently allows gay couples to register unions but not formal marriage, comes into force on May 1 this year under the timetable set out in the bill.

Scandinavian countries, known for their liberal attitudes toward gays and lesbians, were among the first countries in Europe to grant same-sex partners the same rights as married couples.

Sweden gave same-sex couples the right to form a union via registered partnerships in the mid-nineties and made it legal for them to adopt in 2002.

The passage of the bill was widely expected and the final tally was 261 votes in favor of the bill and 22 opposed.

"The decision means that gender no longer has an impact on the ability to marry and that the law on registered partnership is repealed," the government said on its website.

The Christian Democrats, part of the four-party coalition government, refused to back the bill.

The new legislation eliminates legal distinctions between heterosexual and homosexual spouses, but does not force dissenting clergy to wed gay couples.

The Swedish Lutheran church, which split from the state in 2000, has said it was open to celebrating and registering same-sex unions, although it wanted to reserve the term matrimony for heterosexual marriages.