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■ International
Controversy hits Irish holiday
籠罩在爭議中的愛爾蘭節日
St. Patrick’s Day parades held in the United States amid
tensions over gay rights
全美舉行聖派翠克節遊行，而同志權益緊張關係持續 |
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New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio became the first mayor in
decades to sit out the city's traditional St. Patrick's Day
parade over a dispute involving whether participants could carry
pro-gay signs. But Ireland's prime minister refused to be
sidelined, saying he joined the procession in Manhattan because
the holiday is about Irishness, not sexuality. |
在關於參與遊行者能否攜帶同志標語的爭議發生後，紐約市長白思豪成為數十年來，首位沒有參加該市傳統聖派翠克節遊行的市長。不過，愛爾蘭總理拒絕作壁上觀，並表示他之所以參加這場在曼哈頓舉行的
遊行，是因為這個節日和愛爾蘭而非性傾向有關。 |
| New York's Irish, their descendants and the
Irish for a day reveled in the celebration of Irish culture on
Monday, but de Blasio's decision to skip the parade underscored
lingering political tensions over gay rights issues in the U.S.
Northeast. Boston Mayor Martin Walsh also opted out of his
city's parade on Sunday after talks broke down that would have
allowed a gay group to march. Parade organizers said they did
not want the event to turn into a demonstration for a particular
group, but Walsh said their plans prevented all Boston residents
from participating fully. |
紐約的愛爾蘭裔人士、他們的子孫，以及愛爾蘭人，週一狂歡了一整天來慶祝愛爾蘭文化，可是白思豪不參加遊行的決定，突顯了美國東北部政壇有關同志權益問題揮之不去的緊張關係。在允許同志團體參加遊行的談判破裂後，波士頓市長馬丁瓦爾許也退出了週日舉行的遊行。遊行主辦單位表示，他們並不希望這場活動演變成某特定團體的示威，可是瓦爾許表示，主辦單位的計畫阻止
了全體波士頓市民參加遊行。 |
| Still, thousands of green-clad spectators came
out to watch bagpipers and marchers in Boston and New York.
Countless other cities also hosted festivities over the weekend
and on Monday, and throughout the world landmarks were bathed in
green floodlights for the March 17 holiday. |
儘管如此，成千上萬名觀眾仍身穿綠衣現身，在紐約與波士頓觀看吹奏風笛和參加遊行的人。無數其他城市也在週末及週一舉辦慶祝活動，而全球的地標也在這個三月十七日
節日當天，灑上了綠色光芒。 |
| Ireland's prime minister, Enda Kenny, resisted
pressure, in both Ireland and the U.S., to support the gay
rights lobby's demand to have equal rights to participate in
parades on St. Patrick's Day. "The St. Patrick's Day parade (in
New York) is a parade about our Irishness and not about
sexuality," he said. |
愛爾蘭總理恩達肯尼不顧來自國內與美國，要求他支持同志遊說團體平權主張的壓力，而在聖派翠克節參加了遊行。他表示：「（紐約的）聖派翠克節遊行和我們愛爾蘭文化、而非性傾向
有關。」 |
| In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is a key
festivity for promoting the island's important tourism industry.
"To Irish people by birth or descent, wherever they may be in
the world, and to those who simply consider themselves to be
friends of Ireland, I wish each and every one of you a happy,
peaceful and authentically Irish St. Patrick's Day," Irish
President Michael D. Higgins, the ceremonial head of state and
guest of honor at Monday's parade in Dublin, said in a
statement. |
在愛爾蘭，聖派翠克節是推廣該島國重要觀光產業的主要慶典。該國的虛位元首暨週一都柏林遊行的榮譽貴賓總統麥克希金斯，於聲明中表示：「對於身為愛爾蘭人或其後裔來說，不管他們現在身於世界何處，還有那些
單純認為自己是愛爾蘭的朋友者，我要祝福每一個人能有一個快樂、安和且真正愛爾蘭式的聖派翠克節。」 |
| Parade organizers in New York said gay groups
were not prohibited from marching, but were not allowed to carry
gay-friendly signs or identify themselves as LGBT (lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender). Some LGBT groups protested the parade
along the parade route on Fifth Avenue on Monday. New York's
parade, a tradition that predates the city itself, draws more
than 1 million spectators and about 200,000 participants every
March 17. It has long been a mandatory stop on the city's
political trail, and includes marching bands, traditional Irish
dancers and thousands of uniformed city workers. |
紐約遊行的主辦單位表示，同志團體並沒有被禁止參加遊行，可是他們不准攜帶支持同志的標語，或者表明自己是女同性戀者、男同性戀者、雙性戀者或跨性別者。部分女同性戀者、男同性戀者、雙性戀者與跨性別者團體則於週一在遊行沿途的第五大道上舉行抗議。紐約的遊行是個歷史比紐約市還悠久的傳統，它每年三月十七日會吸引一百多萬名觀眾及大約廿萬人參加。長久以來，這場遊行是紐約市政壇道路必停靠的一站，並有遊行樂團、傳統愛爾蘭舞者，以及上千名著便服的該市員工參加。 |
