本文摘自《经济学人》网站上的“The Economist explains”专栏。该专栏的目的是为很多“你不知道你不知道”的问题（比如之前的“比特币”，比如本文讨论的“虚拟空管塔”）提供聪明、有见识的答案。希望我们通过持续阅读这些答案能够变得更聪明、更有见识。
最近台湾宣布禁止同性结婚违反宪法，这或许会使台湾成为亚洲地区首个同性婚姻合法化地区，我们来看一下《经济学人》对这一新闻的解读。

The Economist explains

Chinese attitudes towards gay rights

Despite a historically relaxed view of homosexuality, China seems reluctant to embrace gay rights

台湾或成为亚洲地区首个同性婚姻合法化地区

1. WHEN Taiwan’s highest court ruled on May 24th that marriage should not be limited to a man and a woman and ordered parliament either to change the law or award marriage rights to gay couples within two years, the official media over the strait in China reacted with a barely stifled yawn. Just one state-owned, English-language newspaper took notice of a decision that would be the first to legalise gay marriage in an Asian country (not counting New Zealand). The more widely read Chinese version ignored it, as did television and other news outlets. Chinese history shows the country has long been relaxed about homosexuality. So why is China hostile, or at best indifferent, to gay rights now?

award sth to sb: to officially decide that someone should receive a payment or a formal agreement
stifle: to prevent sth from happening; to prevent a feeling from being expressed
relaxed (about sth): not caring too much about discipline or making people follow rules = laid-back
e.g. I take a fairly relaxed attitude towards what the kids wear to school.

1）台湾最高法院5月24日裁定婚姻不应仅限于一对男女之间，并命令议会在两年内要么更改法律，要么给予同性恋夫妇婚姻权利，而此时海峡对岸的中国大陆官方媒体用几乎不抑制的哈欠作为回应。只有一家国有的英文报纸注意到这项在亚洲国家（不包括新西兰）中首次使同性婚姻合法化的决定。阅读量更大的中文报纸忽视了它，电视等媒体也是如此。中国历史表明，这个国家长期以来对于同性恋并不严格。那么为什么现在中国对同性恋权利有敌意，或者说至少是漠不关心呢？

2. In poetry of the 9th century, usually held to be the golden age of Chinese literature, it is sometimes hard to tell whether a love poem is addressed to a woman or a man. In sharp contrast to Christianity and Islam, Chinese religious and social thinking does not harshly condemn same-sex relationships. Taoism regarded homosexual sex as neither good nor bad, while Confucianism, by encouraging close relations between master and pupils, is sometimes thought to have indirectly encouraged it. China’s greatest novel, “The Dream of the Red Chamber”, written in the late 18th century, includes both heterosexual and same-sex relations. Among literate elites, China does not seem to have shared the strong bias evident elsewhere. Moreover, homosexuality was legalised in China in 1997 (before that it could be prosecuted under a law banning hooliganism).

condemn: to express very strong disapproval of sb/sth, usually for moral reasons

2）在通常被认为是中国文学的黄金时代的9世纪的诗歌中有时难以判断一首爱情诗是为一个女人还是一个男人而作。 与基督教和伊斯兰教形成鲜明对照的是，中国的宗教和社会思想并没有谴责同性关系。道教认为同性恋既不好也不坏，而儒家思想通过鼓励师生之间的密切关系，有时被认为间接鼓励同性关系。中国最伟大的小说、十八世纪末的“红楼梦”中描写了异性恋和同性关系。在文化精英中，中国似乎并没有其他国家那么明显的强烈偏见。此外，1997年中国的同性恋合法化（在此之前同性恋可能会因为禁止流氓行为的法律被起诉）。

3. But homosexuality was removed from the health ministry’s list of mental disorders only in 2001. Traditional filial values remain strong. In China, sons are considered vehicles for carrying on a family’s good name and reputation, and are supposed to marry and have sons of their own. This seems to have made families into a sort of bastion against homosexuality. In 2016 Peking University’s sociology department carried out the largest survey of attitudes to, and among, homosexuals and other sexual minorities on behalf of the UN Development Programme. It found that 58% of respondents (gay and straight) agreed with the statement that gays are rejected by their families—a higher level of rejection than occurs at work or school. Fewer than 15% of homosexuals said they had come out to their families, and more than half of those who did said they had experienced discrimination as a result.

filial: connected with the way children behave towards their parents
vehicles: formal something you use to express and spread your ideas, opinions etc = medium
come out: When a gay person comes out, they let people know that they are gay.

3）但直到2001年，同性恋才从卫生部的精神病清单中被删除。传统的孝顺价值观一直很强。在中国，儿子被认为是继承家庭名誉和声誉的媒介，应该结婚并拥有自己的儿子。这似乎使家庭成为一种反对同性恋的堡垒。 2016年，北大社会学系代表联合国开发计划署就人们对同性恋者和其他性少数群体的态度（以及该群体中）进行了最大范围的调查。它发现58％的受访者（同性恋和异性恋）同意同性恋者被家人拒绝的说法—— 比在工作或学校发生的排斥程度更高。同性恋者中有不到15％表示他们对家人出柜，其中一半以上的人表示结果遭到歧视。

4. But Chinese attitudes are changing, paving the way for conflict with conservative laws. The Peking University survey revealed a big generation gap: 35% of those born before 1970 said they would reject a child who was gay; only 9% born after 1990 agreed. Though official media suppressed discussion of the ruling in Taiwan, Weibo, China’s Twitter, lit up with millions of reactions, most of them positive. Same-sex marriage could become a reality if China reverts to its earlier tolerance, and the party does not stand in the way. In an online debate about the ruling in Taiwan, Li Yinhe, a sociologist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that the average age of members of China’s National People’s Congress (the rubber-stamp parliament that would have to change marriage laws) is 49, at a time when the majority of people under the age of 35 approve of gay marriage. “Due to the influence of Taiwan, we’re 14 years away from legalising it,” she concluded.

light up: if someone's face or eyes light up, they show pleasure, excitement etc
rubber-stamp: to give official approval to something without really thinking about it - used to show disapproval

4）但中国的态度正在改变，为与保守法律的冲突铺平道路。 北大的调查显示出一条很大的代沟：1970年前出生的人中有35％表示会拒绝同性恋的孩子; 1990年以后出生的人中只有9％认同这种做法。 虽然官方媒体抑制了对台湾本次裁决的讨论，微博（中国的Twitter）因数百万的回应而兴奋起来，其中大多数是积极的。 如果中国恢复其早期的宽容，同性恋婚姻就可能成为现实，党不会进行阻碍。 在关于台湾立法的网络讨论中，中国社会科学院社会学家李银河指出中国全国人大常委会（将要必须改变婚姻法的橡皮图章议会）委员的平均年龄是49岁，而现在大多数35岁以下的同胞同意婚姻。 “由于台湾的影响，我们离合法化同性恋婚姻还有14年，”她总结说。

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原文出处：经济学人

翻译：七呵夫

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