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    2016年考研英語閱讀材料:The gay vote
    WHEN the Conservative prime minister, David Cameron, decided to champion same-sex marriage in 2011, many of his backbenchers were horrified. The pledge was not in his manifesto; the softer aspects of his election campaign were more focused on green issues and helping wayward youths than on gay rights. When, in 2014, the act passed into law, 133 Conservatives voted against it and many disgruntled activists left the party. But, as he seeks re-election, Mr Cameron's gamble may gradually be paying off.
    Around 6% of the British population are estimated to be gay. But little definitive statistical evidence exists on how they vote, says Joe Twyman, of YouGov, a pollster. Generally, he says, they tend to be slightly less fond of the Conservatives than is the population as a whole, and slightly more likely to support Labour or the bedraggled Liberal Democrats. In a YouGov poll of gay, lesbian and bisexual people last year, two-thirds of those asked said that they would not vote for an MP who had voted against same-sex marriage (the other third said they would). But it is not their biggest concern: like the broader population, the economy and health care are the most pressing issues, says Mr Twyman.
    Yet the passing of the same-sex marriage act seems to have given David Cameron and some members of his party, such as the gay-friendlyLondonmayor Boris Johnson (pictured), a boost. “It made me less anti-Tory,” admits Tom Chinnery, a 32-year-old from Manchesterwho married his husband six weeks ago. Mr Chinnery was struck by Mr Cameron “standing up” to more traditional party members. His disagreement with the Tories is now restricted to their policies on Europe and the economy. This may help the Conservatives: a self-selected poll of 986 people from PinkNews, a website, in April found that 26% would consider voting for the Conservatives, up from 21% in 2010.
    The change in the law also made those who had previously voted for the party feel more confident to continue doing so, argues Margot James, the Conservative MP for Stourbridge, who is gay. The passing of the act, along with more funds for tackling homophobic bullying in schools, “redressed the balance with Labour”, she says. Differences between the two parties over questions of gay rights and equality have become less marked as a result.
    But perhaps the biggest boost for the party is yet to come. After the same-sex marriage vote, Philip Cowley, a psephologist at the University of Nottingham, worked out that 58% of Conservative MPs born after 1970 voted for it, in contrast to 45% of those born before that year. Younger people are more likely to be socially liberal and to support same-sex marriage. Undecided future voters are less likely to see the Conservatives as the nasty party on gay issues. And gay people who might once have been furtive in voting for them can now be bolder about their choice. After all, for some, coming out as a Conservative may once have been as hard as coming out as gay.
    參考譯文:
    2011年，保守黨人戴維?卡梅倫首相決定聲援同性婚姻，震驚后座議員一片。他在競(jìng)選宣言中并沒有承諾于此，且在競(jìng)選活動(dòng)中宣傳的主要是環(huán)保問題、叛逆青年的引導(dǎo)等相對(duì)溫和的問題，而不是同性戀的權(quán)利。2014年，維護(hù)同性戀結(jié)婚權(quán)利的法案納入英國法律，對(duì)此，133名保守黨成員紛紛投票表示反對(duì)，更有激進(jìn)者，因心懷不滿退出保守黨。然而，如今在卡梅倫努力追求連任時(shí)，其之前的冒險(xiǎn)可能會(huì)漸現(xiàn)成效。
    據(jù)估計(jì)，英國同性戀人口約占6%。但民治調(diào)查公司專家喬?特烏曼表示，并沒有確切的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)顯示這一群體的投票方式。他認(rèn)為，一般情況下，同性戀人群支持保守黨的意向略低于英國人整體的意向，而支持工黨或衰敗的自由民主黨的可能性略大。民治公司去年對(duì)男女同性戀、雙性戀人群進(jìn)行了調(diào)查，調(diào)查顯示：2/3的參與者表示不會(huì)把票投給曾經(jīng)投票反對(duì)同性婚姻的議員(1/3的參與者表示會(huì)投給這些議員)。但特烏曼專家表示，這不是這一人群最擔(dān)心的事情，像人口分布擴(kuò)大，經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展以及醫(yī)療服務(wù)才是最緊迫的問題。
    保守黨駐斯陶爾布里奇選區(qū)議員話雖如此，同性婚姻法案納入法律對(duì)卡梅倫以及樂意接受同性戀的倫敦市長(zhǎng)鮑里斯?約翰遜(如圖)等黨內(nèi)部分成員來說似乎是一大鼓勵(lì)。32歲的湯姆?欽納里是曼徹斯特人，6周前和丈夫結(jié)婚?？穫愴斪《鄶?shù)保守黨人壓力的表現(xiàn)觸動(dòng)了欽納里，他承認(rèn)道：“因?yàn)檫@個(gè)，我對(duì)保守黨的反對(duì)沒那么強(qiáng)烈了。”粉紅社網(wǎng)在四月份對(duì)986名同性戀人士進(jìn)行了選項(xiàng)調(diào)查，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，26%的人會(huì)考慮把票投給保守黨，與2010年的21%相比有所增加。這對(duì)保守黨來說也許有益。
    瑪格特?詹姆斯是同性戀，她認(rèn)為：法律上的變動(dòng)讓之前投票支持保守黨的人堅(jiān)定了繼續(xù)支持該黨的信心，法案入法，不僅增加了學(xué)校處理同性戀遭欺辱事件的資金支持，而且重新調(diào)整了與工黨之間的平衡關(guān)系。同時(shí)，兩黨質(zhì)疑同性戀權(quán)利與平等的程度差異也因此有所減少。
    諾丁漢大學(xué)選舉學(xué)家菲利普?克勞利在分析同性戀婚姻的投票結(jié)果之后發(fā)現(xiàn)，58%的70后保守黨議員投票支持，而與之相比，45%的70前議員投票支持。相對(duì)年輕的人群更易接受開放的社會(huì)，支持同性婚姻。未來選民還未確定，但極有可能不愿看到保守黨在同性戀問題上讓其不快。以前，同性戀人群投票支持保守黨還要遮遮掩掩，但是現(xiàn)在，他們可以大膽地作出選擇。畢竟，對(duì)于有些人來說，代表保守黨嶄露頭角曾經(jīng)也是如同性戀出柜一般艱難。
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