美同性戀羣體哀悼奧蘭多槍擊案受害者
Almost exactly a year ago the US gay community was celebrating one of its most poignant victories — the Supreme Court ruling that same-sex marriage was protected by the constitution. Now it is reeling from the most lethal mass shooting in American history.
差不多在一年前的這個時候，美國同性戀羣體正在慶祝其最辛酸的勝利之一——美國最高法院(US Supreme Court)裁定同性婚姻受憲法保護。今天，該羣體正受到美國史上致死人數最多的大規模槍擊案的巨大打擊。
On Saturday evening the Pulse nightclub touted its Latin theme for the night, posting on Facebook: “Calling all our Latinos, Latinas & everyone that loves a little Latin flavour! It’s time to party tonight! Here’s a little something to play while getting sexy tonight.” But by 1.09am on Sunday morning it posted a chilling update: “Everyone get out of pulse and keep running.”
上週六晚，脈動(Pulse)夜總會在Facebook上發帖宣傳其當晚的拉丁主題：“叫上所有拉丁小夥、拉丁姑娘和喜歡來點拉丁風情的每一個人！今晚正是聚會時間！今晚，在魅力四射的同時，還可以在這裏找點樂子！”然而，到上週日凌晨，該夜總會發布了一條令人不寒而慄的更新：“所有人離開脈動，快跑，不要停。”
Authorities were on Sunday evening still struggling to piece together details about the assailant, Omar Mateen, a US citizen of Afghan descent. But the choice of target was clear: a well-known gay nightclub in Orlando, suggesting it was a deliberate and targeted assault on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
上週日，當局仍在努力拼湊關於襲擊者——阿富汗裔美國公民奧馬爾•馬丁(Omar Mateen)的種種細節。不過，該槍手選擇的目標十分明確：奧蘭多一家著名的同性戀夜總會。這說明，這是一次蓄意、有針對性的襲擊，針對的是女同性戀、男同性戀、雙性戀和跨性別者(LGBT)羣體。
That was the conclusion drawn by Marco Rubio, Florida’s Republican senator. “[If] this is something inspired by radical ideology, then I think common sense tells you that he targeted the gay community because of the views that exist in the radical Islamic community about the gay community,” Mr Rubio told CNN on Sunday.
這是佛羅里達州共和黨參議員馬爾科•魯比奧(Marco Rubio)得出的結論。上週日，魯比奧向美國有線電視新聞網(CNN)表示：“（如果說）這事受到了激進思想的啓發，那麼我認爲，常識告訴人們，他以同性戀羣體爲目標，是由激進伊斯蘭羣體中存在的、對同性戀羣體的看法所致。”
Clubs that cater to LGBT patrons have faced violent attacks in the past, often from the far right. Eric Rudolph, an ultraconservative, in 1997 detonated a nail bomb at the Otherside gay club in Atlanta that wounded five people. More recently, a man named Musab Masmari attempted to burn down a Seattle gay club on New Year’s Eve in 2013. The fire was quickly extinguished and no one was injured. The California native said he was drunk at the time, and was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
過去，接待LGBT顧客的夜總會也遭受過多次暴力襲擊，這些襲擊往往來自極右翼人士。1997年，極端保守主義者埃裏克•魯道夫(Eric Rudolph)在亞特蘭大“另一邊”(Otherside)同性戀夜總會引爆一枚裝有釘子的炸彈，導致5人受傷。2013年，一位名叫穆薩布•馬斯馬裏(Musab Masmari)的男子試圖在跨年夜燒掉西雅圖一家同性戀夜總會。火勢很快被撲滅，沒有人受傷。這位加利福尼亞州本地人表示他當時喝醉了，他被判十年徒刑。
While no terrorist group immediately claimed credit for the Pulse assault, an organisation believed to be run by Isis sympathisers called Online Dawah Operations celebrated the attack on Telegram, an encrypted communications phone app. “US crying for 20 homos who got killed. Lol,” one posting said, according to the New York Times. The channel encouraged its supporters to “attack” a Facebook group that was posting updates on the atrocity.
一個據信由“伊斯蘭國”(ISIS)同情者運營、名爲“網上宣教行動”(Online Dawah Operations)的組織，在加密通信手機應用Telegram上慶賀了奧蘭多襲擊事件。據《紐約時報》(New York Times)報道，其中一個帖子表示：“美國在爲20個被殺死的同性戀者哭泣。LOL（表示“大笑”的首字母縮略字）。”該組織還鼓勵其支持者“攻擊”Facebook上一個更新事件狀況的羣。
The Orlando massacre called to mind the Isis attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris last November: an assailant turning high-powered weapons on revellers at a festive — and vulnerable — venue.
奧蘭多大屠殺讓人想起去年11月ISIS在巴黎巴塔克蘭劇院(Bataclan)發動的襲擊：一名攻擊者將威力強大的武器對準了在防衛薄弱的歡樂會場狂歡的人羣。
In the US, it follows last year’s San Bernardino attack, where a married couple — radicalised by online jihadism and termed “homegrown violent extremists” by Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey — murdered 14 people and injured 22 in a mass shooting and attempted bombing. Until this weekend, it was the second-worst terrorist attack on US soil since September 11 2001.
去年，美國發生了聖貝納迪諾(San Bernardino)襲擊事件，一對夫婦在大規模槍擊中殺害了14人並導致22人受傷，還企圖引爆炸彈。這兩人是受網上聖戰主義影響而變得思想激進，他們被聯邦調查局(FBI)局長詹姆斯•科米(James Comey)定性爲“在本土成長的暴力極端分子”。截至剛過去的這個週末，聖貝納迪諾槍擊案是2001年9月11日以來在美國本土發生的第二大恐怖襲擊。
In the wake of San Bernardino, US President Barack Obama warned that the terrorist threat had “evolved into a new phase”.
在聖貝納迪諾事件之後，美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)警告稱，恐怖主義威脅已經“發展到一個新階段”。
The latest assault was denounced by American Muslims, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations saying in a statement: “We condemn this monstrous attack and offer our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of all those killed or injured. The Muslim community joins our fellow Americans in repudiating anyone or any group that would claim to justify or excuse such an appalling act of violence.”
美國穆斯林羣體譴責了這次發生在奧蘭多的襲擊，美國-伊斯蘭關係委員會(Council on American-Islamic Relations)在聲明中表示：“我們譴責這次可怕的襲擊，並向所有死傷者的家人和愛人表達我們衷心的哀悼。穆斯林羣體和我們的美國同胞一樣，反對一切爲這種駭人暴行辯解或開脫的個人或組織。”
Israel, which also boasts a vibrant gay community, has suffered a string of attacks in recent years, too, such as a shooting at the Israeli LGBT Association’s Tel Aviv branch in 2009 which killed two people. Last year an ultraorthodox Israeli stabbed six marchers in Jerusalem’s annual Gay Pride Parade.
同樣擁有活躍同性戀羣體的以色列也在近些年遭受了一系列襲擊，比如2009年針對以色列LGBT協會特拉維夫分會的槍擊案，那起案件導致兩人死亡。去年，一名極端正統派以色列人在耶路撒冷的年度“同志驕傲大遊行”(Gay Pride Parade)中刺傷了6名遊行者。
The tragedy is a wrenching shift from the sense of progress that the American LGBT community has enjoyed in recent years, culminating in the landmark Supreme Court decision that was joyously celebrated at the annual Gay Pride parades across the US last summer. The victory marked decades of progress towards LGBT rights, with mainstream attitudes across the US shifting decisively in favour of equal rights in recent years.
最新發生的這場悲劇是一個令人痛心的轉折，近年來美國LGBT羣體感覺上已經取得了巨大進步，去年夏天美國各地的同志驕傲大遊行慶賀最高法院具有里程碑意義的裁決，使這種進步感達到了頂峯。那次勝利標誌着LGBT羣體的權益數十年來取得了進展，近年來全美主流立場已朝着平權方向發生了決定性的轉變。
At the time Steven Hawkins, executive director of Amnesty International USA, noted that “while much work remains to be done to ensure that all forms of discrimination against LGBT people are eliminated once and for all, this long-awaited and significant decision affirms that same-sex couples and their families deserve the same respect and recognition as anyone else”.
當時大赦國際(Amnesty International)美國分部的執行理事史蒂文•霍金斯(Steven Hawkins)指出：“儘管要確保徹底消除針對LGBT人羣的所有形式的歧視還有很多工作要做，但這個被期待已久、具有重大意義的決定肯定了同性情侶和他們的家人理應像其他任何人一樣享有同樣的尊重和認可。”
But the sense of optimism that has enveloped the community in recent years suffered a horrific setback with this weekend’s attack. In a statement Equality Florida — a local LGBT rights organisation — said: “We are heartbroken and angry that senseless violence has once again destroyed lives in our state and in our country.”
這次襲擊讓近年來環繞這個羣體的樂觀感遭受了嚴重挫敗。當地的LGBT權利組織“平等佛羅里達”(Equality Florida)發表聲明說：“毫無意義的暴力又一次在我們州和我們國家奪走了一些人的生命，這讓我們感到心碎和憤怒。”
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center of Central Florida, one of the oldest gay organisations in the US, has set up grief counselling for those affected by the tragedy, and OneBlood, an Orlando blood bank, on Sunday set up an emergency drive to collect more blood donations to help the scores of victims injured in the assault.
美國曆史最悠久的同性戀組織之一“中佛羅里達GLBT羣體中心”(GLBT Community Center of Central Florida)爲受到此次悲劇影響的人們提供了悲傷紓解服務。奧蘭多一家血庫OneBlood上週日發起緊急行動，採集更多獻血以幫助數十名受傷者。
“We have received a steady stream of emails and messages from those seeking to help or to make sense of the senseless. We make no assumptions on motive. We will await the details in tears of sadness and anger. We stand in solidarity and keep our thoughts on all whose lives have been lost or altered forever in this tragedy,” Equality Florida said in the statement.
“我們已經收到了人們發來的源源不斷的電子郵件和消息，他們尋求提供幫助、或者試圖弄明白這種無意義的行爲。我們不對動機作任何假設。我們將飽含悲傷和憤怒的淚水等待細節公佈。我們將團結一致，把心思集中在那些因此次悲劇而喪生或被永遠改變的人們身上，”“平等佛羅里達”在聲明中表示。
