背景介绍：
如果要问哪个国家对同性伴侣最为友好，英国一定能排得上号。自2013年7月，英国女王伊丽莎白二世同意并签署了经国会通过的同性婚姻合法化法案，同性恋婚姻合法化法案于2014年3月在英格兰和威尔士地区正式生效，英国实现同性婚姻合法化已有近十年。如今，英国民众对同性婚姻究竟有着怎样的态度？
Many Britonshave changed their minds on gay marriage
许多英国人已经改变了对同性婚姻的看法
But ten yearsafter it was legalised, the Church of England remains a holdout
但在同性婚姻合法化十年后，英格兰教会仍然坚持己见
David Cameron may not have expected same-sex marriage to be among his proudest legacies. The landmark social reform, which waspassed by the House of Commons on July 17th 2013, did not appear in any party’smanifesto for the election in 2010.
戴维·卡梅伦可能没想到，同性婚姻会成为他最引以为豪的政治遗产之一。这项具有里程碑意义的社会改革于2013年7月17日由下议院通过，但并未出现在2010年大选的任何政党宣言中。
The resulting coalition government initially said it would retain a ban on gay marriage. In his memoirs the former prime minister admitted that he had gone on “a journey”; one that caused him to “worry and evenwobble”.
由此产生的联合政府最初表示将保留对同性婚姻的禁令。这位前首相在回忆录中承认，他经历了“一段旅程”，这段旅程让他 “忧心忡忡，甚至产生了动摇”。
Once he found his resolve, Mr Cameron was met withprophecies of doom. His MPs warned him that he was “barking mad” and wouldsplit the Conservative Party.
一旦下定决心，卡梅伦就会遭遇厄运的预言。他的议员们警告他说，他“疯了”，会导致保守党分裂。
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, said the changewould “fatally weaken what is still one of our country’s greatest strengths,” paving the way topolygamyand marriage between siblings. David Silvester, a Conservative councillor, cited the scriptures when he claimed that Britain would be “beset by natural disasters”.
坎特伯雷前大主教凯里勋爵表示，这一变革将“致命地削弱我们国家最大的优势之一”，为一夫多妻制和兄弟姐妹间的婚姻铺平道路。保守党议员戴维·西尔维斯特在声称英国将“受到自然灾害的困扰”时引用了《圣经》。
The roof did not fall in (though Mr Silvester did blameMr Cameron for some flooding in 2014). Indeed, same-sex marriage has provedremarkably popular. As of 2020, the most recent year for which there is data,more than 42,000 gay couples in England and Wales had tied the knot. (Scotlandand Northern Ireland passed separate laws.)
屋顶并没有坍塌（尽管西尔维斯特确实将2014年的一些洪潮归咎于卡梅伦）。事实证明，同性婚姻非常受欢迎。截至 2020 年（即有数据可查的最近一年），英格兰和威尔士已有超过4.2万对同性恋伴侣喜结连理（苏格兰和北爱尔兰通过了单独的法律）。
Polling in June found that more than three-quarters of Britons now support gay marriage, up from just over half in 2012. Just 14% are opposed.
6月份的民意调查显示，超过四分之三的英国人现在支持同性婚姻，而2012年的支持率仅略高于50%。只有14%的人反对。
The success of same-sex marriage legislation shows howpolitical leaders can shape and accelerate deeper shifts in public opinion. Britons have long been becoming more liberal and less religious.
同性婚姻立法的成功表明，政治领导人可以塑造并加速公众舆论更深层次的转变。长期以来，英国人变得越来越自由，也越来越不信教。
The previous New Labour government had done much to sweep away repressive legislation. It ended Section 28, which prevented schools and local authorities from “promoting homosexuality” and introduced civil partnerships. Campaigners were pushing for more.
上一届新工党政府在废除压制性立法方面做了大量工作。它废除了第28条（禁止学校和地方当局“宣传同性恋”），并引入了民事伴侣关系。活动人士正在进一步斗争。
Nevertheless, Mr Cameron chose to confront his party ona subject many would rather have avoided. “I don’t support gay marriage despitebeing a Conservative. I support [it] because I’m a Conservative”, he told hisparty’s annual conference in 2011.
尽管如此，卡梅伦还是选择在一个许多人宁愿回避的问题上与他的政党针锋相对。他在2011年的保守党年度会议上说：“尽管我是保守党人，但我不支持同性婚姻。我支持(它)是因为我是保守党人。”
The government proceeded carefully, conducting a consultation which elicited the largest ever response. Still, Conservative MPs attempted wrecking amendments and 134 voted against the bill, which meant that Mr Cameron had to rely on opposition votes.
政府谨慎行事，进行了一次磋商，引起了有史以来最大的反响。尽管如此，保守党议员仍试图破坏修正案，134人投票反对该法案，这意味着卡梅伦不得不依靠反对派的投票。
But the law was changed, and attitudes changed with it. Gay marriages became not an abstract threat but something undertaken by friends, colleagues, neighbours. Almost half of Britons now say they know a married gay couple.
但法律改变了，人们的态度也随之改变。同性婚姻不再是一种抽象的威胁，而是朋友、同事、邻居共同承担的事情。现在，几乎有一半的英国人表示他们有认识的已婚同性夫妇。
This change reveals some deeper shifts. Gordon Brown,Mr Cameron’s predecessor, opposed gay marriage in office because it was“intimately bound up with questions of religious freedom”. Many others acrossthe House did, too. Few would now admit to such a view.
这一变化揭示了一些更深层次的转变。卡梅伦的前任戈登·布朗在任时反对同性婚姻，因为它“与宗教自由问题密切相关”。众议院的许多其他议员也反对同性婚姻。现在很少有人会承认这种观点了。
DannyKruger, a Conservative MP, told a recent conference on “national conservativism” that marriages between men and women were “the only possible basis for a safe and successful society”. But there appears little constituency for such a message in Britain now.
保守党议员丹尼·克鲁格在最近一次关于“国家保守主义”的会议上表示，男女婚姻是“一个安全和成功的社会的唯一可能的基础”。但现在在英国，似乎很少有人支持这种观点。
Number 10 quickly shot down the remarks. Like most successful and enduring policies same-sex marriage has moved beyondcontention. Though Britain was not the first to legalise it, 19 other countries have since given gay marriage their blessing.
唐宁街10号很快驳斥了这些言论。与大多数成功而持久的政策一样，同性婚姻已经超越了争议。尽管英国不是第一个将同性婚姻合法化的国家，但自那之后，已有 19 个国家认可了同性婚姻。
(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
重难点词汇：
manifesto [ˌmænɪˈfestoʊ] n. 宣言
wobble [ˈwɑːbl] v. 摇晃；摇摆；颤动
prophecy [ˈprɑːfəsi] n. 预言；预告
polygamy [pəˈlɪɡəmi] n. 多配偶；一夫多妻
contention [kənˈtenʃn] n. 争论；争辩；争执
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