【Week One】美同性婚姻合法

Supreme Court rules in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide

By Ariane de Vogue and Jeremy Diamond, CNN

Updated 1504 GMT (2304 HKT) June 27, 2015

"I just wanted to say congratulations," Obama said as CNN broadcast his warm words to Obergefell over speakerphone. He added: "Your leadership on this has changed the country."

Speaking at the White House later in the morning, Obama said "Americans should be very proud," because small acts of courage "slowly made an entire country realize that love is love."

The decision affirmed growing public support in the U.S. for gay marriage, with about two-thirds of Americans now in favor. And it comes as gay rights groups have seen gay marriage bans fall rapidly in recent years, with the number of states allowing gay marriage swelling most recently to 37 -- that is, until this ruling.

There were two questions before the Court, the first asked whether states could ban same sex marriage, the second asked whether states had to recognize lawful marriages performed out of state.

The relevant cases were argued earlier this year. Attorney John Bursch, serving as Michigan's Special Assistant Attorney General, defended four states' bans on gay marriage before the Court, arguing that the case was not about how to define marriage, but rather about who gets to decide the question.

The case came before the Supreme Court after several lower courts overturned state bans on gay marriage. A federal appeals court had previously ruled in favor of the state bans, with Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals writing a majority opinion in line with the rationale that the issue should be decided through the political process, not the courts.

Excerpted from: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/26/politics/supreme-court-same-sex-marriage-ruling/index.html

Structure of the lead:

Who: Obama

What: CNN broadcast his warm words

Where: White House

When: June 27, 2015

Why: Same-sex marriage has been legalized

How: Not Given

Key Words:

Supreme Court (n.)最高法院
affirm (v.)確認

swell (v.)膨脹

lawful (a.)合法的
relevant (a.)有關的
attorney (n.)律師
define (v.)定義
overturn (v.)顛覆
rationale (n.)理由