跨性別人士的如廁問(wèn)題 成為人權(quán)新議題

The people of Palatine, Ill., a middle-class suburb of Chicago marked by generic strip malls and tidy cul-de-sacs, had not spent much time debating the thorny questions of transgender rights. But in late 2013, a transgender high school athlete, so intent on defending her privacy that she is known only as Student A, took on her school district so she could use the girls’ locker room.

伊利諾伊州的帕拉蒂諾是芝加哥郊外的中產(chǎn)社區(qū)，有著隨處可見的商業(yè)街和整潔的死巷。那里的居民并沒(méi)有花多少時(shí)間去探討棘手的跨性別者權(quán)益問(wèn)題。然而，到了2013年底，一名高中跨性別運(yùn)動(dòng)員對(duì)學(xué)區(qū)提出了申訴，要求使用女更衣室。她非常希望保護(hù)自己的隱私，使用了化名“學(xué)生A”。

After the federal Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights ruled in her favor last fall, the two sides cut a deal: Student A could use the locker room and the school would install private changing areas. Some in the community denounced the arrangement; others joined the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which represented the girl, in declaring a victory for civil rights.

去年秋天，聯(lián)邦教育部的公民權(quán)辦公室做出了有利于她的裁決，隨后雙方達(dá)成了協(xié)議：學(xué)生A可以使用女更衣室，而學(xué)校將設(shè)置私密的更衣區(qū)。社區(qū)的一些人對(duì)這一安排進(jìn)行了譴責(zé);另一些人則與代理她的美國(guó)公民自由聯(lián)盟伊利諾伊州分部(American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois)一起，宣稱這是公民權(quán)的勝利。

Now the whole nation is in a pitched battle over bathroom access, with the Obama administration ordering all public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice. Across the country, religious conservatives are rebelling. On Friday, lawmakers in Oklahoma became the latest group to protest, proposing one measure to effectively overturn the order, and another calling for President Obama to be impeached over it.

現(xiàn)在，全美爆發(fā)了針對(duì)衛(wèi)生間使用權(quán)的尖銳斗爭(zhēng)。奧巴馬政府簽署政令，要求所有的公立學(xué)校允許跨性別學(xué)生自行選擇衛(wèi)生間使用。對(duì)此，全國(guó)各地的宗教保守派在加以抵制。上周五，俄克拉何馬州的議員成為抗議團(tuán)體中最新的成員，他們不僅提出了一項(xiàng)實(shí)際上會(huì)顛覆這項(xiàng)指令的議案，還提出了另一項(xiàng)議案，呼吁就該指令彈劾奧巴馬總統(tǒng)。

How a clash over bathrooms, an issue that appeared atop no national polls, became the next frontier in America’s fast-moving culture wars — and ultimately landed on the desk of the president — involves an array of players, some with law degrees, others still in high school.

衛(wèi)生間問(wèn)題從未在全美的民意調(diào)查中位居前列，如今這方面的沖突卻成為了美國(guó)快速變化的文化戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的下一個(gè)前線——并且最終呈到了總統(tǒng)的案頭。這場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)涉及各種各樣的參與者，既有擁有法學(xué)學(xué)位的人，也有仍在上中學(xué)的學(xué)生。

The sweeping directive to public schools seemed to come out of nowhere. In fact, it was the product of years of study inside the government and a highly orchestrated campaign by advocates for gay and transgender people. Mindful of the role “Whites Only’’ bathrooms played in the civil rights battles of more than half a century ago, they have been maneuvering behind the scenes to press federal agencies, and ultimately Mr. Obama, to address a question that has roiled many school districts: Should those with differing anatomies share the same bathrooms?

這一針對(duì)公立學(xué)校、影響極為廣泛的指令看似來(lái)得莫名其妙。但實(shí)際上，它是政府內(nèi)部研究多年的產(chǎn)物，也是倡導(dǎo)人士為幫助同性戀和跨性別群體爭(zhēng)取權(quán)利而精心策劃的一場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)役的成果。他們注意到了“只準(zhǔn)白人進(jìn)入”的洗手間在民權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)中所扮演的角色，因此一直在幕后運(yùn)籌帷幄，向聯(lián)邦機(jī)構(gòu)乃至奧巴馬施加壓力，敦促其解決一個(gè)困擾著許多學(xué)區(qū)的問(wèn)題：有著不同生理結(jié)構(gòu)的學(xué)生能否共享衛(wèi)生間?

The lobbying came to a head, according to people who were involved, in a hastily called April 1 meeting between top White House officials — led by Valerie Jarrett, Mr. Obama’s senior adviser and one of his closest confidantes — and national leaders of the gay and transgender rights movement. North Carolina had just become the first state to explicitly bar transgender people from using the bathrooms of their choice.

據(jù)參與其中的人士稱，在4月1日緊急召開的一個(gè)會(huì)議上，相關(guān)游說(shuō)到了緊要關(guān)節(jié)。參會(huì)者包括白宮高級(jí)官員以及同性戀及跨性別權(quán)利運(yùn)動(dòng)的全國(guó)性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。白宮方面的牽頭官員是瓦萊麗·賈勒特(Valerie Jarrett)，奧巴馬的高級(jí)顧問(wèn)，同時(shí)也是其心腹之一。此前，北卡羅萊納剛剛成為第一個(gè)明確禁止跨性別人士根據(jù)自我認(rèn)同的性別使用衛(wèi)生間的州。

“Transgender students are under attack in this country,” said Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based advocacy group that is active on the issue, summing up the message he sought to convey to Ms. Jarrett that day. “They need their federal government to stand up for them.”

“跨性別學(xué)生正在這個(gè)國(guó)家里遭受攻擊，”積極推進(jìn)這一議題的華盛頓倡導(dǎo)組織“人權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)”(Human Rights Campaign)的主席查德·格里芬(Chad Griffin)如此總結(jié)他那天竭力傳達(dá)給賈勒特的信息。“他們需要從聯(lián)邦政府那里得到支持。”

Ms. Jarrett and her team, he said, listened politely, but “did not reveal much,” including the fact that a legal directive on transgender rights that had been in the works for months was about to be released.

他說(shuō)，賈勒特及其團(tuán)隊(duì)靜靜地聽著，但“并未透露太多東西”——也未透露一項(xiàng)關(guān)乎跨性別權(quán)利的總統(tǒng)令數(shù)月前便在籌劃之中，不日即將頒布的事實(shí)。

When — or precisely how — Mr. Obama personally weighed in is not clear; the White House would not provide specifics. But two days before that meeting, scores of advocacy groups sent Mr. Obama a private letter, appealing to his sense of history as he nears the end of his presidency, in which he has already advanced gay and transgender rights on multiple fronts.

目前尚不清楚，奧巴馬是在何時(shí)——或者以何種具體方式——親自介入的;白宮不愿提供相關(guān)細(xì)節(jié)。但那次會(huì)議召開兩天前，數(shù)十個(gè)倡導(dǎo)團(tuán)體向奧巴馬發(fā)出了一封針對(duì)他個(gè)人的信函，在其總統(tǒng)任期即將結(jié)束之時(shí)尋求支持，希望他能創(chuàng)造歷史。任職期間，奧巴馬已經(jīng)在多個(gè)方面改善了同性戀和跨性別群體的權(quán)利狀況。

In August, several groups seeking protection for transgender people — including the Human Rights Campaign, the National Education Association and the National Center for Lesbian Rights — issued a 68-page guide for schools, hoping to provide a blueprint for the White House.

去年8月，包括人權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)、全國(guó)教育協(xié)會(huì)(National Education Association)以及全國(guó)女同性戀權(quán)益中心(National Centerfor Lesbian Rights)在內(nèi)，若干尋求保護(hù)跨性別人士權(quán)益的組織，發(fā)布了一份面向?qū)W校的、68頁(yè)長(zhǎng)的指南，希望可以為白宮提供可資借鑒的藍(lán)圖。

At the Department of Education, Catherine E. Lhamon, 44, a former civil rights litigator who runs the agency’s Office of Civil Rights — and has made aggressive use of a federal nondiscrimination law known as Title IX — was taking the lead. The department’s ruling in favor of Student A in November was the first time it had found any school district in violation of civil rights over transgender issues.

在美國(guó)聯(lián)邦教育部，凱瑟琳·E·利亞蒙(Catherine E. Lhamon)牽頭展開行動(dòng)。44歲的利亞蒙曾是一位民權(quán)律師，目前是教育部民權(quán)辦公室(Office of Civil Rights)的負(fù)責(zé)人，一直在大力使用人稱“第九條”(Title IX)的聯(lián)邦反歧視法。教育部在去年11月做出了有利于“學(xué)生A”的裁決，這是它首次判定某個(gè)學(xué)區(qū)存在與跨性別議題有關(guān)的侵犯民權(quán)問(wèn)題。

The ruling in Palatine reverberated across the Midwest. In the South Dakota Legislature, Republicans were so alarmed by the situation in Palatine that, in February, they passed a measure restricting bathroom access for transgender students — similar to the one that later became law in North Carolina. Opponents sent transgender South Dakotans to meet with Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican, and they believe that influenced his veto of the bill.

這項(xiàng)裁決的影響從帕拉丁蔓延到了整個(gè)中西部地區(qū)。帕拉丁的情況讓南達(dá)科他州議會(huì)的共和黨人極為恐慌，以至于他們?cè)诮衲?月通過(guò)了一項(xiàng)限制跨性別學(xué)生使用衛(wèi)生間的議案——和北卡羅來(lái)納州那項(xiàng)變成了法規(guī)的舉措頗為相似。反對(duì)者們派了南達(dá)科他州的跨性別人士去見身為共和黨人的州長(zhǎng)丹尼斯·多加德(Dennis Daugaard)，他們認(rèn)為此次會(huì)面對(duì)州長(zhǎng)造成了影響，促使其否決了相關(guān)議案。

Among the visitors was Kendra Heathscott, who was 10 when she first met Mr. Daugaard, then the executive director of a social services organization that treats children with behavioral problems. In his office to lobby against the bathroom measure, she reintroduced herself. “He remembered me as a little boy,” she said.

其中一位造訪者是肯德拉·希思科特(Kendra Heathscott)，和多加德州長(zhǎng)第一次見面時(shí)，她只有10歲，多加德當(dāng)時(shí)在一家救治有行為問(wèn)題的兒童的社會(huì)服務(wù)機(jī)構(gòu)擔(dān)任執(zhí)行主任。在州長(zhǎng)辦公室里進(jìn)行游說(shuō)，反對(duì)實(shí)施與洗手間有關(guān)的限制性規(guī)定時(shí)，她再次介紹了自己。“在他記憶里我是一個(gè)小男孩，”她說(shuō)。

In Wisconsin last year, another Republican-sponsored bathroom bill began to work its way through the Legislature, but was beaten back by transgender rights activists, many of them teenagers.

去年，在威斯康星州，另一項(xiàng)共和黨發(fā)起的洗手間議案被提交至立法機(jī)構(gòu)待審，但在跨性別權(quán)利活動(dòng)人士的反對(duì)之下被擊退，那些活動(dòng)人士很多都只有十幾歲。

In rural north-central Florida, a retired veterinarian and cattle rancher named Harrell Phillips was alarmed one evening in March, when his 17-year-old son reported over dinner that he had encountered a transgender boy in the high school bathroom.

今年3月里的一個(gè)晚上，在佛羅里達(dá)州中北部的鄉(xiāng)村地區(qū)，退休獸醫(yī)兼牧場(chǎng)主哈勒爾·菲利普斯(Harrell Phillips)嚇了一跳，因?yàn)樗?7歲的兒子在吃晚飯時(shí)告訴他，自己在高中的衛(wèi)生間里碰見了一個(gè)跨性別男孩。

“I marched myself down to the principal,” said Dr. Phillips, who believes that “you are born into a sex that God chose you to be.”

“我直奔學(xué)校，去找校長(zhǎng)，”菲利普博士說(shuō)。他認(rèn)為“你生下來(lái)是什么性別就是什么性別，那是上帝決定的”。

One transgender young man there has been suspended for using the boys’ bathroom. The A.C.L.U. of Florida sued the day before the White House issued its directive, and last Sunday night, transgender activists and their allies held a strategy session in a church — with a sheriff’s deputy standing guard outside because attendees feared for their safety.

在那里，一名年輕的跨性別男子因?yàn)槭褂媚猩l(wèi)生間而自此被停學(xué)。在白宮發(fā)布指令的前一天，美國(guó)公民自由聯(lián)盟的佛羅里達(dá)州分部就此提起訴訟。上周日晚上，一些跨性別活動(dòng)人士及其盟友在一座教堂舉行了一場(chǎng)策略討論會(huì)——有一名警察在門外守衛(wèi)，因?yàn)榕c會(huì)者擔(dān)心自己的人身安全。

“It’s separate but equal, so they might as well put black and white up on the bathrooms, too,” said Beth Miller, the mother of 17-year-old Mathew Myers, formerly Madison, an R.O.T.C. student in Ocala who came out as transgender this fall by asking his sergeant to permit him to switch from a women’s uniform to one for men. The sergeant accommodated Mathew on the uniform, but the school required him to use the gender-neutral bathroom in the nurse’s office.

“這是隔離，又號(hào)稱平等，所以他們有可能也會(huì)考慮讓白人和黑人分開使用衛(wèi)生間，”貝絲·米勒(Beth Miller)說(shuō)道。她是17歲的馬修·邁爾斯(Mathew Myers)的母親，后者以前名為麥迪遜(Madison)，來(lái)自?shī)W卡拉，是預(yù)備役軍官訓(xùn)練營(yíng)的一名學(xué)生。去年秋天，他曝光了自己的跨性別身份，請(qǐng)求他的中士允許他脫下女軍裝，換上男軍裝。這名中士同意了馬修在著裝上的要求，但學(xué)校要求他使用護(hù)士辦公室內(nèi)那間不分性別的洗手間。

Though North Carolina was the first state to adopt a law explicitly barring all transgender people from using public facilities of their choice, many say the current debate has its roots in Houston. In November 2015, voters there repealed the city’s anti-discrimination measure, after a campaign in which the law’s opponents boiled their message down to a five-word slogan. It appeared on yard signs, T-shirts, banners, and ominous ads on TV, radio and the Internet: “No Men in Women’s Bathrooms.”

盡管北卡羅來(lái)納是第一個(gè)以法律形式明令禁止所有跨性別人士按自己的意愿使用公共設(shè)施的州，但很多人表示，目前這場(chǎng)爭(zhēng)論的根源產(chǎn)生于休斯頓。在2015年11月，那里的選民廢除了該市的反歧視法案。此前，反對(duì)這項(xiàng)法律的人士發(fā)起了一場(chǎng)宣傳攻勢(shì)，將他們的意見歸結(jié)為一條五個(gè)單詞的口號(hào)。這個(gè)口號(hào)出現(xiàn)在庭院廣告牌、T恤、條幅上，也出現(xiàn)在透出警告意味的電視、廣播和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)廣告里：“男性禁入女廁(No Men in Women’s Bathrooms)。”

The repeal of the Houston ordinance rattled national gay rights leaders.

休斯頓法令遭廢除事件令全國(guó)的同性戀權(quán)益活動(dòng)領(lǐng)袖陷入不安。

“I think they have now created a campaign in a box that we are going to see shipped from city to city and state to state,” Mr. Griffin, of the Human Rights Campaign, said in an interview at the time.

“我覺(jué)得他們創(chuàng)造了一種簡(jiǎn)單易行的宣傳模式。我們會(huì)看到它從一座城市向另一座城市、一個(gè)州向另一個(gè)州蔓延，”人權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)組織的格里芬在當(dāng)時(shí)接受采訪時(shí)說(shuō)道。