美国国家公共电台 NPR--Montana judge denies state Rep. Zooey Zephyr's bid to return to the House floor

Montana judge denies state Rep. Zooey Zephyr¹'s bid to return to the House floor

Transcript²

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr after a district judge declined to intervene against the GOP-majority state House in its move to silence the transgender lawmaker.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Montana's House of Representatives adjourned³ its session this week without State Representative Zooey Zephyr in the chamber⁴.

ZOOEY ZEPHYR: I feel like the world looked and saw that Montana and the GOP here were doing cruel and unconstitutional things, and I'm feeling determined⁵ to stand up and fight.

FADEL: Zephyr is transgender and delivered a forceful warning to Republicans, telling them they would have blood on their hands for blocking gender-affirming health care for kids. And while she was allowed to vote, the GOP majority voted to silence and banish⁶ her as a disciplinary measure for encouraging a loud protest in the House gallery. Just hours after the session gaveled to a close, a judge rejected a lawsuit⁷ Zephyr and others had filed on free speech grounds. We called up Representative Zephyr to hear what's ahead for her.

ZEPHYR: What's next right now is figuring out how we take this understanding that people are beginning to see, like, how far the GOP will go to achieve their ideological⁹ goals. What will they throw away? And that being democracy - and trying to work with myself and other legislators and activists¹⁰ across the country to say, how do we take this understanding and let people know that if they stand up, if they work hard, that we can protect our democracy against these kinds of attacks?

FADEL: Do you see a pattern - I'm thinking of Tennessee, then you - where someone who was elected to represent voters is silenced because of a protest?

ZEPHYR: Yes. Whether that's me standing⁸ up in defense¹¹ of trans rights out here, Representative Mauree Turner in Oklahoma doing the same, whether it's the Tennessee Three standing up against gun violence and saying these bills, these policies, this legislature's actions or inactions are getting people killed, when we stand up and call out that harm - it's not enough for lawmakers on the far right to get the bills passed. What they're demanding is silence, and they're demanding us to be complicit in that harm. And young lawmakers are standing up and saying, no. We won't do that, and our communities are standing behind us.

FADEL: Now, technically¹², you did break the rules. What's the right thing to do? Should there be some type of consequence?

ZEPHYR: So I want to clarify that the rules of decorum are utilized¹³ by a legislature that gets to decide what is and what isn't by the majority vote. And so we have seen the application of decorum used undemocratically. We have seen legislators insinuate¹⁵ that my existence itself as a trans person is somehow sexualizing children. And they were not censured¹⁶. They were not removed. So what we're seeing is the way in which the tools of the democratic institution, the tools of the legislative¹⁷ body, are wielded¹⁸ by a supermajority to enforce silence.

FADEL: What are the stakes at this moment?

ZEPHYR: So for my community, the trans community, the bills that are coming forward, the stakes are our lives. These bills harm us. They take away the health care we need to live vibrant¹⁹, happy lives, to have that pursuit of happiness. And they also - the increased amount of legislation against us creates an environment where people feel emboldened²⁰ to harm us. But broadly, what we're seeing across the country is what's at stake is democracy. What's at stake are the very first principles of our country.

FADEL: Democrat¹⁴ Zooey Zephyr represents the city of Missoula in the Montana House of Representatives.

Thank you so much for your time.

ZEPHYR: Thank you for having me.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 zephyr   

n.和风，微风

参考例句：

• I feel very comfortable in the zephyr from the sea.从海上吹来的和风令我非常惬意。
• Zephyr,the West Wind,blew away the clouds so that Apollo,the sun god,could shine and made this flower bloom.西风之神吹散了云朵，太阳神阿波罗得以照耀它并使它开花。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 adjourned   

（使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court adjourned for lunch. 午餐时间法庭休庭。
• The trial was adjourned following the presentation of new evidence to the court. 新证据呈到庭上后，审讯就宣告暂停。

4 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 banish   

vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除

参考例句：

• The doctor advised her to banish fear and anxiety.医生劝她消除恐惧和忧虑。
• He tried to banish gloom from his thought.他试图驱除心中的忧愁。

7 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

13 utilized   

v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the19th century waterpower was widely utilized to generate electricity. 在19世纪人们大规模使用水力来发电。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The empty building can be utilized for city storage. 可以利用那栋空建筑物作城市的仓库。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

15 insinuate   

vt.含沙射影地说，暗示

参考例句：

• He tried to insinuate himself into the boss's favor.他设法巧妙地渐渐取得老板的欢心。
• It seems to me you insinuate things about her.我觉得你讲起她来，总有些弦外之音。

16 censured   

v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 )

参考例句：

• They were censured as traitors. 他们被指责为叛徒。 来自辞典例句
• The judge censured the driver but didn't fine him. 法官责备了司机但没罚他款。 来自辞典例句

17 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

18 wielded   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The bad eggs wielded power, while the good people were oppressed. 坏人当道，好人受气
• He was nominally the leader, but others actually wielded the power. 名义上他是领导者，但实际上是别人掌握实权。

19 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

20 emboldened   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine, he went over to introduce himself to her. 他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• His success emboldened him to expand his business. 他有了成就因而激发他进一步扩展业务。 来自《简明英汉词典》