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經濟學人: 台灣可能成為亞洲第一個同志合法結婚的國家
http://tinyurl.com/jdu9amw

ON THE eighth floor in a gritty suburb of the capital, Taipei, sits the
ten-year-old Wei-ming temple, a Taoist house of worship—but an unusual one.
Nearly all the visitors buying bundles of prayers or bringing handwritten
ones of their own to be burnt by the priest at the altar are gay. The deity
receiving the prayers, and to whom the shrine is dedicated, is the Rabbit
Spirit, a 17th-century folk deity from Fujian province in mainland China who
protects men who have sex with men. In late imperial China, “rabbit” became
a derogatory term for homosexual. In this temple the rabbits are reclaiming
the label.

台北郊區有個專門給甲甲拜兔子神的特別的廟


Warren peace

Taiwan’s open tolerance of homosexuality and its liberal view of sexual
minorities generally is unique within Asia. Taipei’s annual gay-pride parade
is a lively celebration that draws 80,000 people or so a year, including gay
people from all over Asia. Perhaps religion has something to do with it:
Taoism and Buddhism, the country’s most widespread faiths, have less
doctrinal objection to homosexuality than many religions. Some in Taiwan
ascribe its tolerance to the island’s long history of influences from the
outside—centuries of settlement by mainland Chinese; Dutch and Japanese
colonial rule; American popular culture—mingling with the island’s
aboriginal traditions to create a uniquely open, hybrid society. But that
explanation only goes so far and, as elsewhere in Asia, older generations are
much more conservative about gay issues than younger ones.

台灣在亞洲特別的開放


So the chief factor has to be Taiwan’s modern political history, and in
particular the struggle to throw off the thuggish dictatorship of Chiang
Kai-shek’s Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT). Gay rights, feminism,
environmental awareness and demands for political freedom: all emerged in the
grassroots protest movement that led to the end of martial law in 1987 and
culminated in full democracy.

最大原因是打倒殺人強盜蔣開穴的KMT所達到的民主環境


Issues like gay rights thus became a badge of the island’s democratisation,
championed by a rowdy media. Chiang had once ruled that people with “
sexual-orientation impairments”—ie, homosexuals—were mentally unfit to
serve in the armed forces. But in 2002 the army began admitting gay and
bisexual recruits. Discrimination was outlawed in hiring and at work. And a
landmark education act in 2004 opened the way for tolerance to be taught even
in primary school.

甲甲權等議題變成島民的民主徽章


Around the same time a push was made to legalise gay marriage. That failed.
But this year members from both the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of
President Tsai Ing-wen (herself a longtime promoter of gay rights) and the
more conservative KMT, now in opposition, have very similar gay-marriage
bills before the national legislature. They would give same-sex couples the
same rights as any others, including to adopt.

蔡英文和KMT都有相似的甲甲婚姻政策


That would make Taiwan the only country in Asia to permit gay marriage,
unless you consider New Zealand part of the continent. In contrast, in 2014
Singapore’s Supreme Court upheld a law mandating a two-year jail term for
men engaging in acts of “gross indecency”—ie, gay sex. Malaysia sends “
effete” youths to boot camp. Aceh province in Indonesia punishes gay sex
with 100 lashes. Thailand, one of Taiwan’s few rivals in tolerance, has
decriminalised gay sex, opened the army to gay recruits and banned most forms
of discrimination based on sexual orientation—but legalising gay marriage
remains a distant prospect. Nepal is also unusually liberal.

這會讓台灣變成亞洲第一個合法化甲甲婚姻的國家 連泰國都看不到車尾燈


It is still possible that Taiwan’s gay-rights movement will be a victim of
its own success. In mid-November, as the legislature was reviewing the draft
gay-marriage laws, some 10,000 protesters converged outside; some broke
through the gates to stage a sit-in in the courtyard. Mainly Christians, they
knelt and prayed, warning that the proposed laws were not only an affront to
religion but would also promote promiscuity.

甲權活動導致了護家盟的反作用力


More Taiwanese support gay marriage than oppose it, according to polls. In
response to the protests, Ms Tsai declared that “everyone is equal before
love.” But the president has other priorities, not least the economic issues
that are of greatest concern to ordinary Taiwanese. How much political
capital her government will expend on gay marriage is unclear. The
legislature has called public hearings on the subject—a concession to the
protesters.

在台灣 支持甲甲的是多數


Jason Hsu, a KMT politician who backs gay marriage, says pressure from
constituents not to legalise it is growing fast. To drum up greater support,
however, opponents are having to soften their tone. Many are suddenly calling
for a law that would recognise gay partnerships but not marriages. “Protect
homosexuals. Set up separate legislation,” run the new banners.

反對者現在改變策略 要求立甲甲專法


Mr Hsu argues that that would be discriminatory, in that it would single out
gay people for different treatment. Moreover, it is far from certain that
adoption would be allowed under such a law. Even if, as elsewhere, such
partnerships become a way-station on the road to gay marriage, Mr Hsu is
against dawdling. “Taiwan”, he says, “is a decade behind…We have to show
the world it is still a progressive country.”

KMT的Jason許支持甲甲婚姻

Jason許: 台灣已經落後十年了...我們必須向世界顯示我們還是在進步的國家


Huge rival demonstrations are promised for this weekend. Many Asians admire
Taiwan’s lively popular democracy, in which spirited debates in parliament
often reverberate in the streets. The young leaders of Hong Kong’s
pro-democracy “umbrella” movement of 2014, which brought central Hong Kong
to a standstill with mass protests, were following the lead of the
environmental activists who brought Taiwan’s nuclear-power programme to a
halt, and from the “sunflower” demonstrators who invaded Taiwan’s
legislature to block a free-trade deal with China. The fact that Taiwan is
debating same-sex nuptials is encouraging. It would be even better if the
country that hardly any others recognise became the first in Asia to
recognise that gay people deserve equality.

如果台灣這個沒什麼人認得的國家能變成亞洲第一個合法化甲甲婚姻的國家就更好了

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