新聞英文(16) 105-02-Week 2：same sex marriage

US Supreme Court rules gay marriage is legal nationwide

27 June 2015

 

The US Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex marriage is a legal right across the United States.

 

It means the 14 states with bans on same-sex marriage will no longer be able to enforce them.

 

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that the plaintiffs asked "for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."

 

The ruling brings to an end more than a decade of bitter legal battles.

 

Same-sex couples in several affected states including Georgia, Michigan, Ohio and Texas rushed to wed on Friday.

 

However officials in other states, including Mississippi and Louisiana, said marriages had to wait until procedural issues were addressed.

 

President Barack Obama said the ruling was a "victory for America".

 

"When all Americans are treated as equal, we are all more free " he said.

 

However, Christian conservatives condemned the decision.

 

Former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee called it "an out-of-control act of unconstitutional, judicial tyranny".

 

And Kellie Fiedorek, a lawyer for an anti-gay marriage advocacy group, said the decision "ignored the voices of thousands of Americans".

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, a state where marriages licences will now be issued to same-sex couples, said the justices "have imposed on the entire country their personal views on an issue that the Constitution and the Court's previous decisions reserve to the people of the states".

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33290341

Structure of the Lead：
WHO- people in the United States
WHEN- not given
WHAT- ruled that same-sex marriage is a legal right
WHY- not given
WHERE- the United States
HOW- not given

Keywords：
1. plaintiff：起訴人
2. dignity：尊嚴
3. grant：給予
4. procedural：程序上的
5. conservative：保守者
6. condemn：譴責
7. unconstitutional：違反憲法的
8. advocacy：提倡