VOA常速英语2014--美国大使呼吁LGBT权利（在线收听）

US Ambassador Calls for LGBT Rights 美国大使呼吁LGBT权利

The U.S. ambassador to Australia said it should not be a crime to be a member of the LGBT community. Ambassador John Berry told the 20th international AIDS Conference that the fight against the disease cannot be won by relegating segments of the population to the shadows.

美国驻澳大利亚大使说，成为LGBT(同性恋、双性恋及变性者)群体中的一员并非罪行，约翰·贝利大使在第20届国际艾滋病大会上说，将这部分人推入阴影，是不能战胜艾滋病的。

Ambassador Berry said the world has reached a critical moment in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

贝利大使说，在抗击艾滋病方面全世界已进入关键时刻。

“We are now on the brink of an AIDS-free generation. But reaching that goal will depend on all of us working together and being able to get the preventative care and treatment that everyone needs.”

“我们马上就要进入无艾一代，但要实现这一目标，需要我们团结一致，让每个人都获得预防性护理和治疗。”

However, he said there are many barriers around the world blocking access to prevention, care and treatment.

不过，他说全世界在获得预防、护理和治疗方面仍存在许多障碍。

“Unfortunately, the criminalization of certain at risk populations and those who are HIV positive – and the stigma associated with HIV – are the very things that will prevent us from eliminating this disease entirely,” he said.

“不幸的是，对一些危险人群和艾滋病阳性人群的歧视，以及对与艾滋相关的羞耻感，将阻碍我们从整体上消除这种疾病。”

The U.S. Ambassador said that criminalization is bad health policy and bad public policy. He says it does not stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and, in fact, does just the opposite.

这位美国大使说，这种歧视就是糟糕的卫生政策和糟糕的公共政策。他说歧视并不能阻碍艾滋病的蔓延，却起着相反的作用。

“Criminalization laws undermine public health approaches that we need to fight this disease and limit its spread. These laws don’t reflect current scientific knowledge. They undermine our ability to get people into screening and treatment. And more fundamentally, these laws wrongly stigmatize and marginalize those living with HIV and AIDS.”

“歧视性的法律削弱了对付这种疾病所需的公共卫生措施，限制了措施的推广。这些法律没有反映当前的科学知识，却削弱了我们对这些人进行检查和治疗的能力。更根本的来说，这些法律错误地羞辱了艾滋病携带者和患者，并将之边缘化。”

More than 80 countries around the world have criminal laws against sexual activity by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Some of those laws contain very harsh penalties.

全世界有80多个国家有针对同性恋、双性恋和变性者性行为的刑法，其中一些刑法的惩罚力度很重。

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association says 13 U.S. states still have not repealed their anti-sodomy laws. That’s despite a 2003 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court declaring such laws unconstitutional.

国际同性恋、双性恋和变性者协会称，美国13个州仍没有废除反同性恋法，尽管美国最高法院2003年的判决已宣布此类法律违宪。

The Center for HIV Law and Policy says 32 states and two U.S. territories “have HIV-specific criminal statutes and thirty-six states have reported proceedings in which HIV-positive people have been arrested and/or prosecuted for consensual sex, biting, and spitting.” The center says there have been at least 80 such prosecutions in the last two years alone.

艾滋病法律与政策中心称32个州和两个美国领地“有特别针对艾滋病的刑法，据悉36个州有过艾滋病阳性患者因性行为、咬和吐痰而被捕或被起诉的案例。”该中心称单过去两年就有至少80起此类起诉。

Ambassador Berry said the U.S. still has more to do in this regard.

贝利大使说美国在这方面要做的仍很多。

“Now while the United States still has laws that criminalize HIV status, we are working to become better – to do better – and to remedy our mistakes. We believe that one of the most productive public policy actions that we can take is removing outdated criminalization laws from the books. The president in his national HIV/AIDS strategy has called for the review and reform of all HIV criminalization laws across our country,” he said.

“尽管美国现在仍存在将艾滋病刑事化的法律，我们会努力改善并修正错误。我们认为我们所能采取的最富有成效的公共政策之一，就是将过时的歧视法明文删除掉，总统在他的全国艾滋病战略中呼吁重申和改革全国各地所有艾滋病歧视法。”

Ambassador Berry called that a good step, but added more needs to be done at home and abroad. He noted that new HIV infections are on the rise in the United States and the AIDS conference host country Australia, particularly among young men.

贝利大使呼称这是正确的一步，但称国内外还需要做更多。他指出，新的艾滋病感染病例在美国和艾滋病会议主办国澳大利亚都在增加，尤其是年轻人中。

He said, “Those of us who remember the funerals of the 80s and 90s have no wish to repeat that era. It falls to us to ensure that the next generation does not repeat these mistakes.”

他说，“目睹过80后和90后葬礼的人都不想重蹈覆辙，我们要确保下一代不再重蹈这样的错误。”

He said that means educating young people about HIV prevention and transmission, supporting research, lifting travel restrictions on those living with HIV and supporting the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

他说这意味着教育青年人有关艾滋病预防和传播的知识，支持相关研究，取消对艾滋病携带者的旅行限制，支持对付艾滋病、肺结核和疟疾全球基金。

Berry also praised PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, for helping to get 6.7-million people on treatment.

贝利还赞扬了总统艾滋病救助应急计划(PEPFAR)，该计划已帮助670万人获得治疗。