我想以一个思维实验开始我今天的演讲。

　　Suppose I told you that I'm imagining an activity that takes place between consenting adults, doesn't hurt anyone, and results in a great deal of pleasure for the people involved-and that's all that you know about the activity that I'm imagining.

　　此刻我们来设想某种行为，它发生在自愿的成年人之间，对参与者无害，并且可以给参与者带来极大的愉悦--我只给你以上的几条信息。

　　Given that information, it sounds pretty good.

　　那么，基于以上这些信息，这种行为听起来似乎很不错。

　　Suppose I fill in the picture a bit more and tell you that not only does it result in pleasure for the people involved, but it's an avenue of communication and a source of deep meaning in their lives.

　　假设我在这个情境下再加点东西，我会告知你这种行为不但会给参与者愉悦，并且它是参与者之间沟通交流的渠道，甚至是他们整个生命意义的源泉。

　　And, again, that's all you know about the activity that I'm imagining.

　　我们再次仅就以上这些信息来判断整个行为本身。

　　Given that information, it sounds great-the kind of thing we'd want to encourage.

　　听起来也很棒，使我们要积极鼓励的那种行为。

　　But, of course, when I fill in the picture a bit more, and tell you that the adults in question are two men or two women, and the activity is some kind of sexual activity, suddenly people are not so keen on it anymore.

　　那么如果我再加入更多的判断条件呢？比如我会告诉你，行为的参与者是两个成年男子，或两个成年女性，而行为本身与性有关。突然之间，很多人就开始不那么感冒了。

　　In fact, not only would many people condemn it, some would call it a moral abomination.

　　事实上，很多人不但会去谴责这种行为，甚至会称之为"令人憎恶的道德恶行"。

　　Consider the fact that right now there are thousands of people across the world having sex.

　　我们来想象一下这个事实：就在此时此刻，整个世界上有成千上万的人正在进行着性行为。

　　It's kind of disconcerting when you think about it.

　　光是想到这点就有点让人不好意思。

　　Especially when you realize you're sitting here listening to me.

　　特别是你们现在都在正襟危坐地听我演讲。

　　Some of those people are with partners of the same race; some of them are with partners of a different race.

　　有些人的性伴侣是和自己相同的种族，有些是不同种族。

　　Some of them are with partners of the same age; some of them are in what we call "May-December relationships."

　　有些人的性伴侣和自己年纪相当，有些则是老少配。

　　Some of them have known each other a long time; some of them met last night on the Internet.

　　有些人和性伴侣之间相识已久，有些则是从网上联系到的一夜情。

　　Some of them are in loving, nurturing relationships; some of them are in abusive relationships.

　　有些人之间有着甜美温馨的爱情，有些人之间则是施暴与受害的关系。

　　Now those facts all have varying moral significance.

　　以上这些全部有着各种各样的道德含义。

　　But when I tell you that some of these people are with partners of the same sex and some of these people are with partners of the other sex, that fact seems to take on a significance all its own.

　　但如果告诉你，这些人当中有些人的性伴侣是自己的同性，有些人是自己的异性时，这条消息本身，就足以挑起强烈的伦理思考了。

　　And the question I want to explore tonight is "why?"

　　而我今晚在此想要探寻的问题正是--为何如此？

　　What's morally wrong with homosexuality, if anything, and if nothing, what's all the fuss about?

　　同性恋在道德上有什么错？而如果有错，或是没错，这么多的争吵和争论又有何意义？

　　And the way I'm going to do this is I am going to look at some of the most common arguments against homosexuality and subject them to philosophical scrutiny.

　　而我解决这个疑问的办法，就是去讨论一下一些常见的反对同性恋的论点和论辩，从哲学上去细细审视它们。

　　It sounds fancier than it is; really, we're just going to look at these arguments, see what they are, see if they work.

　　听上去这是个不错的做法。我们将剖析这些论点，看看它们是什么，是否成立。

　　Before I get to the arguments, there are a few preliminary things I want to get out of the way.

　　在我对它们进行探讨之前，我们做点基础工作。

　　We're talking about homosexuality tonight. What is that?

　　今晚我们将探讨同性恋这个话题，那么什么是同性恋？

　　A lot of people like to make a distinction between homosexual orientation and homosexual activity-homosexual orientation, being attracted to people of the same sex; homosexual activity, engaging in some kind of romantic activity with people of the same sex.

　　很多人喜欢把同性恋性取向和同性恋行为加以区分：同性恋性取向是情感上受到相同性别的人的吸引，而同性恋行为是在性的方面和相同性别的人进行亲密的互动。

　　Like many such distinctions, this one is both useful and problematic.

　　跟很多类似的区分方法一样，这种区分方法既有利也有弊。