美国国家公共电台 NPR Transgender Americans Race To Finish Paperwork Before Trump Administration

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

And switching gears now, parents of children who identify as transgender are rushing to change how their kids identify their gender¹ on government documents before President-elect Donald Trump² takes office. That's because some in the transgender community worry that the next administration could make such changes more difficult. NPR's Jeff Brady has this report.

JEFF BRADY, BYLINE³: Here's a question 10-year-old Dylan is used to answering.

DYLAN: I always say yes when they ask me are you a boy or a girl? I always say girl.

BRADY: Dylan was born a boy, but today with her parents' encouragement, she has long hair, wears pink and lives as a girl. That fits with the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines. The general idea is that parents should support their child, but not make any big decisions that could limit the child's options in the future. That's because some children who appear to be transgender early on, are not when they grow up. It's very unlikely Dylan will fall into that category. One of her parents, Marla, says Dylan has said she's a girl since she could talk.

MARLA: And it took us about three years to really sort out with Dylan what that meant because we kept telling her, oh, there's lots of ways to be a boy. You can be a fancy boy. You can be a sparkly boy, and she was like you all ain't getting it.

BRADY: NPR agreed to use only first names for this family. The parents worry about anti-LGBT activists⁴. Some of them have filed child abuse reports against parents of trans kids, even though the parents are following American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines. Dr. David Levine is professor of pediatrics at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

DAVID LEVINE: When you think about what really, really helps these transgender kids make it to adulthood⁵ without substance abuse, without other dysfunction, it's when the parents hear them and support them and give them unconditional⁶ love.

BRADY: Dylan's parents had planned to change her gender on government documents when she got her driver's license⁷, but since this is something that technically⁸ could be changed back, they decided⁹ to go ahead and do that now.

MARLA: It was the election that prompted the urgency.

BRADY: On a recent evening, just as Dylan and her siblings¹⁰ were finishing up homework, a visitor arrived.

MARLA: Hey. All right. Where'd you park? Good...

BRADY: Marla and her wife invited a notary¹¹ to witness them sign a short stack of documents sitting on the coffee table.

JENNIFER: I'm Jennifer. I'm Dylan's other mother, and we are filling out a variety of official papers here. We are putting a correction on the back of the birth certificate which is what we were advised to do.

BRADY: Just after the election, Jennifer and Marla attended a legal clinic for parents of trans children. Philadelphia attorney Benjamin Jerner led that clinic. It says 18 families showed up.

BENJAMIN JERNER: I think that just tells you the level of fear and anxiety that's out there.

BRADY: Jerner assured those parents that a lot of government documents are controlled by states, so a new president won't affect those. He says federal documents are a bigger concern.

JERNER: Generally, you're talking about passport, immigration documents, the gender marker that's associated with your social security number.

BRADY: Jerner says trans people should change passports as soon as possible. That's because State Department rules could be changed relatively¹² easily under a new administration. There's no indication this is a priority for President-elect Trump. Mara Keisling with the National Center for Transgender Equality says Trump's positions on trans issues are not clear, but she's concerned about people he's nominated for key positions in his administration.

MARA KEISLING: Virtually every - if not every - appointment he has announced so far has been an extremely anti-LGBT person.

BRADY: Keisling says given the uncertain political landscape, trans people who plan to change the gender on their government documents should do it sooner rather than later. Jeff Brady, NPR News, Philadelphia.

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 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》

5 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

6 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

7 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

8 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。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

11 notary   

n.公证人，公证员

参考例句：

• She is the town clerk and a certified public accountant and notary public.她身兼城镇文书、执业会计师和公证人数职。
• That notary is authorised to perform the certain legal functions.公证人被授权执行某些法律职能。

12 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。