【英语语言学习】抵抗对艾滋病人的歧视

REED VREELAND: I found out I was HIV-positive when I was 7 years old. I was told by my dad. He actually took me out to a really, very scenic¹ location. I remember a picnic bench and a lot of grass around.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The scene stood in sharp contrast to the news Reed Vreeland had just received. Vreeland was born with HIV. And since the day he found out about his illness, he has struggled with when and how to tell people in his life about his HIV-positive status. He now works for an organization called the Sero Project, which fights HIV criminalization laws which exists in dozens of states, laws that make it illegal to expose someone's HIV.

Reed Vreeland is our Sunday Conversation. And we begin back in that moment, in that park, when Vreeland's dad told him about his condition.

VREELAND: I immediately just started crying...

(LAUGHTER)

VREELAND: ...because we had read in our first grade class a book about HIV in Africa and kids in Africa dying of AIDS. And I remember the first thing I thought of was, oh, I'm like the kids in the book. Then it was, oh, I'm going to die. And then, oh, we read that book in class because of me.

(LAUGHTER)

VREELAND: And from then on, you know, thinking about my status and, you know, mortality and all those fun things has been a part of my life. And HIV has been a part of my life.

MARTIN: Your mom, we should say, eventually died of AIDS. Your dad however was not HIV-positive. When she died, obviously it's a huge loss in your own life, how did it affect how you thought about your illness?

VREELAND: The pain of losing her was even more intense in a way because I knew that I had what she had. It's just so hard to see a parent in that state and then know that, you know, you could be next.

MARTIN: When did you first start to feel that your status, as someone who is HIV-positive, that it was something people were judging you for?

VREELAND: I think my first girlfriend, I was in middle school - I guess I was maybe 12 or 13. And we were doing of it but holding hands, really. And then we just had a very sweet kind of budding romance. She was really lovely. And I found out that her mother had banned her from seeing me. And so that ended our relationship. And after that I didn't have any relationships for over five years. I was 19 the first time I had any intimate contact with anyone, including a kiss.

MARTIN: I understand you went to Bard² in Upstate New York and you met a woman in 2006, who became a very important part of your life. Why were you ready in that moment to have an intimate relationship with someone?

VREELAND: This was one that I was initially³ very scared about because I kind of saw how promising⁴ it was going to be. I remember our first date. We just had this amazing date and talked about everything - everything, everything - except for my positive status. At the end of our date, she went to be her friends and and went into a cafe. Then she just came running down the street and she kind of puckered⁵ her lips sweetly to come and kiss me. And it was at that moment that I had to make a decision. Am I going to kiss her? Am I going to disclose to her?

The extreme awkwardness that I was put in at that moment was really painful. And I felt the stigma⁶. I felt the fear. I was very aware that if I told her my status it could either go around school in an uncontrollable way, and that could really affect my time there and make it painful or, you know, make people more involved in my business than I wanted them to be. And so at that moment I made a decision.

I brought her head forward and just gave her a really sweet kiss on her forehead. And she just looked so confused and dejected. And then, the following day, we had a deeper conversation and I disclosed to her that I was living with HIV.

MARTIN: May I ask you? Were those words hard to conjure⁸ up in that moment?

VREELAND: I think for me one of the things I was thinking about, is this a safe place to disclose? Is she someone I can trust with this information? But I knew that I wanted that trust with her in terms of something longer term, and that if I didn't tell her now it would eventually come out. So I really wanted to take a huge leap and a huge investment trust in her - and I did. And so, I told her.

You know, she went back to her friends, and again, she couldn't tell them the full story, right? She just said, we had a conversation, it was great. And then she came back in my room and she goes, they're asking why we haven't kissed, why haven't we kissed? This is so awkward. What do we do? What do we tell them? I don't wan⁷ to tell them your status. I don't want to expose that to all these people and, you know, I don't...

And at that moment I just gave her this amazing first kiss - really, the most romantic kiss I've ever had in my life - in the doorway⁹ of my room, and that was really the start of our relationship.

MARTIN: So she took the news well.

VREELAND: She did. And I can't tell you how uncommon¹⁰ that is. It's extremely tough. The stigma in negotiating relationships and the stigma you face, still in with medical professionals, is very significant and you constantly feel you're being judged. I think the fact that we've been able to have an amazing relationship has been, I think, a tribute to her and to me and that we've made it work, and that I've been able to explain the pace that I felt comfortable going at and that she did. And I explained, you know, transmission routes to her and, you know, where I felt comfortable in terms of those routes and the risks I was willing to take and the risk that she was and all that.

MARTIN: You and your wife have talked about having kids. That's something that you want?

VREELAND: Yes. When I look at my future, a family, I hope is part of it. My wife is ready right now. I'm - I see a future with a family, I think that's where we are. But moreover, I see myself having kind of gone from being a writer to being an activist¹¹. And I see myself kind of continuing to thrive and continuing to work with people, and continuing to force society at large and our medical establishment to confront this issue, and stop making people living with HIV carry the full burden of stigma.

MARTIN: Reed Vreeland is the communications director at the Sero Project, which advocates for people with HIV. Thank you so much for talking with us and sharing your story, Reed.

VREELAND: Thanks so much, Rachel.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: You're listening to NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

2 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

3 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

4 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

5 puckered   

v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His face puckered , and he was ready to cry. 他的脸一皱，像要哭了。
• His face puckered, the tears leapt from his eyes. 他皱着脸，眼泪夺眶而出。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

7 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

8 conjure   

v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法

参考例句：

• I conjure you not to betray me.我恳求你不要背弃我。
• I can't simply conjure up the money out of thin air.我是不能像变魔术似的把钱变来。

9 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

10 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

11 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。