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。

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岁的Kuan Yu两年前向家人坦承了自己的同性恋取向。她表示，短期来看，估计在同性恋权益方面很难取得进展，但台湾同志家庭权益促进会仍将进行努力，推动有关草案在立法院从9月份开始的下一会期内通过。

'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.

她说，“我们的目标是引起大家对于‘同相爱的人在一起’这个普世人权的关注，并促进关于这个问题的讨论。”

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.

华人圈内首家同志主题书店晶晶书库(Gin Gin Store)的发言人杨平靖谴责立法委员们在这个问题上装聋作哑。他说，“立法委员应该是民意的代表，而这些人做过些什么来为我们争取权益呢？根本没做过什么。”

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.

国民党籍立法委员吴育升则辩称，这样的指责是不公平的。他表示，同性恋社团才是行动迟缓的一方。

'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.

他说，“我的很多同僚以及我本人都很乐意讨论这个问题，但我从未收到过来自任何同性恋权益游说团体要求讨论这个问题的诉求。”

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.'

吴育升表示，在台湾，关于同性恋婚姻立法的讨论与对不同性取向的包容度无关，而是与遗产和儿童教养等问题一样，是很务实的事情，“需要很长时间才能够达成某种一致意见”。

In the absence of legal recognition, will other gay couples follow Huang and Yu's example and walk the Buddhist path toward marriage?

那么，暂时得不到法律上的认同，其他同性恋伴侣会效仿黄美瑜和游雅婷，选择佛化婚礼吗？

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.

为黄美瑜和游雅婷主持婚礼的昭慧法师表示，佛教对同性恋问题并无明确教规教义，佛教强调在任何密切关系中所应秉持的基本原则是纯净、无私，而这些都与性取向无关。

'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.'

昭慧法师表示，黄美瑜和游雅婷的选择非常令人鼓舞，但她还没有收到其他任何希望举办同性恋婚礼的请求。坦白来讲，“像黄美瑜和游雅婷这样有勇气的人并不多。”