TED演讲:大爱无疆 爱本无条件(1)

 Even in purely¹ non-religious terms,  就算抛开宗教信仰的因素，

homosexuality represents a misuse² of the sexual faculty³. 同性恋也是性滥交的代名词。

It is a pathetic little second-rate substitute for reality a pitiable flight from life. 它是可悲的，次等的，一种现实的替代品，是人生中一段令人遗憾的旅程。

As such, it deserves no compassion,  因此，同性恋不值得同情，

it deserves no treatment as minority martyrdom,  也不值得治疗，因为只有少数人为此受难，

and it deserves not to be deemed anything but a pernicious sickness. 同性恋只值得视为一种有害的疾病。

That's from Time magazine in 1966, when I was three years old. 上述的话选自1966年发行的《时代》杂志，那时我只有三岁。

And last year, the president of the United States came out in favor of gay marriage. 但是就在去年，美国总统站出来表示支持同性恋婚姻。

And my question is, how did we get from there to here? 我的问题是，我们是如何实现这种态度的转变？

How did an illness become an identity? 曾经的疾病是如何成为现在的一种身份认同？

When I was perhaps six years old,  当我差不多六岁的时候，

I went to a shoe store with my mother and my brother. 我和妈妈还有弟弟去一家鞋店。

And at the end of buying our shoes,  最后，当我们付款买鞋子的时候，

the salesman said to us that we could each have a balloon to take home. 售货员告诉我们，我们每个人可以挑选一个气球带回家。

My brother wanted a red balloon, and I wanted a pink balloon. 我的弟弟想要一个红色的气球，我想要粉色的气球。

My mother said that she thought I'd really rather have a blue balloon. 而我的母亲说她觉得我应该选一个蓝色的气球。

But I said that I definitely wanted the pink one. 但是我说我想要的毫无疑问是粉色的气球。

And she reminded me that my favorite color was blue. 她提醒我，我最喜欢的颜色是蓝色。

The fact that my favorite color now is blue, but I'm still gay is evidence of both my mother's influence and its limits. 其结果是，我现在最喜欢的颜色是蓝色，但我依旧是个同性恋者，这既反应了母亲对孩子的影响，也反应了这其中的局限性。

1 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

2 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

3 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。