托福阅读材料之奥巴马公开宣布支持同性婚姻

President Barack Obama's announcement Wednesday that he supports gay marriage boosted the hopes of gay rights groups around the world that other leaders will follow his example, though opponents denounced his switch as a shameless appeal for votes.

Several countries, including Canada, Spain and Argentina, allow same-sex marriage, but far more countries ban it and dozens even prohibit consensual same-sex relations. Gay-rights groups hope Obama's views will inspire more change.

"This is incredibly important, it's excellent news. The United States is a global leader on everything, and that includes gay rights," said Julio Moreira, president of the Rio de Janeiro-based Arco-Iris gay rights group. "This will force other nations like Brazil to move forward with more progressive policies."

Vatican and other religious officials didn't comment, but political leaders and others opposed to gay marriage excoriated Obama. In particular, politicians tied to Pentecostal and Catholic churches have spoken out strongly against same-sex marriage in Latin America.

"Barack Obama is an ethical man and a philosophically confused man," said Peruvian congresswoman Martha Chavez of the conservative Catholic Opus Dei movement. "He knows that marriage isn't an issue only of traditions or of religious beliefs. Marriage is a natural institution that supports the union of two people of different sexes because it has a procreative function."

Religion-based opposition is strong in Egypt's conservative Muslim-dominated society, which rejects same-sex relations. Laws prohibiting "debauchery" or "shameless public acts" have been used to imprison gay men in recent years.

"This is unacceptable, because it is against religion, traditions and against God," said engineer Shady Azer in Cairo. "God created Adam and Eve. He didn't create two Adams or two Eves."

Gay marriage in legal in several countries; most are in Europe but others include Canada and South Africa. Several U.S. states allow it, but voters in many other states, including North Carolina on Tuesday, have banned it with constitutional amendments.

Though Obama's change of heart did not appear to change the battle lines in the debate, those on one side felt they had won a powerful ally.

"We're living in other times where acceptance is growing more and more," said restaurant owner Carlos Santiago in Mexico City's Pink Zone gay district. "It's impossible to hold back a wave, against something that is natural."

【新闻快讯】美国总统奥巴马日前在接受美国广播公司采访时明确表示支持同性婚姻，成为美国历史上首位公开表态支持同性婚姻的总统。分析人士认为，奥巴马此番冒险公开表态是经过周密调查和计划、且以调查结果为依据的。调查显示，越来越多的美国人支持同性婚姻合法化。美国民主党人士、同性恋权益组织以及独立人士均对奥巴马此举表示赞赏，称这是美国迈向平等的一大步；而共和党活动人士以及一些保守派基督教则指出奥巴马此举冒了很大的政治风险，会让那些反对同性婚姻的独立投票人和基督教人士转而支持罗姆尼。

奥巴马政府官员表示，奥巴马本打算在今年九月民主党全国大会前夕宣布支持同性婚姻的立场，不过由于副总统拜登日前在采访中表态支持同性婚姻，所以奥巴马才会提前表态。不过，奥巴马在采访中也表示，支持同性婚姻只是他个人的立场，美国各州仍有权自行决定其立场。

梵蒂冈以及别的宗教组织还没有对此事发表评论，但在诸如埃及这样的穆斯林国家，反对的声浪很高涨。有反对者表示：“上帝创造了一个亚当和一个夏娃让他们结合，而不是创造两个亚当或者两个夏娃。”目前同性恋婚姻仅在加拿大、南非和一些欧洲国家是合法的，在美国内部，也只有少数几个州支持其合法，而还有好多州比如南卡罗来纳州，甚至以宪法修正案的形式规定同性恋婚姻违法。

以上就是新航道托福频道为大家整理的托福阅读材料之奥巴马公开宣布支持同性婚姻，希望对大家有帮助，更多资讯、资料请访问新航道托福阅读频道 http://www.xhd.cn/toefl/yuedu/