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VOA慢速英语--美国宗教大学测试反歧视法

时间:2016-02-02 16:03:10

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US Religious Colleges Test Anti-Discrimination Law 美国宗教大学测试反歧视法

Justin Massey chose to study at Wheaton College in 2011 because of the university’s strong religious and academic record.

"I grew up as a very strong Christian1 and my faith was an important part, thinking about moving forward with my academic studies. And Wheaton, from what I came to know, was widely understood as one of the best academic institutions if you’re looking for somewhere with a strong Christian tradition."

Massey, 23, thought that a Christian university would be a welcoming place. But there was one problem: Massey is a gay, or homosexual, man.

Religious universities across the U.S. have asked the Department of Education for permission to deny equal treatment to homosexual and transgender students.

Title IX is a section of a group of laws called the United States Education Amendments3 of 1972. Originally, Title IX prevented discrimination based on gender2 at schools receiving federal money.

This includes any school with students who use federal loans to pay for their studies.

But Title IX does include a special exemption5 for religious schools. Any school run by a religious organization can ask to ignore Title IX. The schools can make this request if they believe Title IX disagrees with their religious beliefs.

For example, some schools that train men to be members of the clergy6 ask to deny access to women. Some religions prevent women from training to be clergy members.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is part of the U.S. Department of Education. The OCR enforces Tile IX. The OCR also processes the exemption requests. Seth Galanter is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the OCR.

Galanter said schools have always had the right to make this type of request: 227 schools have received exemption from some part of Title IX since 1972.

Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, received an exemption in 1985. But Justin Massey said that the school does accept different types of people.

"I think Wheaton College, as a whole, is a pretty loving environment… It’s just stuck in a … political position."

Problems began for Massey when he started working with the administration. Massey became involved in student government during his first year at Wheaton.

At that time, he had not openly identified himself as gay. But he did start organizing meetings to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (or LGBT) students.

During his second year, Massey tried to create a formal group supporting LGBT students at Wheaton, called Refuge. But the school’s administration learned that Massey was already involved in student government. They did not want a student with connections to a controversial issue to be part of the student government.

The administration told Massey he could not be the leader of the group he started.

"What I took that to mean was that it was because I was gay and that there was no other similar situation in which a student wouldn’t be allowed to head up a group because of a so-called conflict of interest."

Galanter said that the exemptions7 do not allow schools to discriminate8 in any way they want.

"There is not a wholesale9 exemption. A school, private college or university is only exempt4 when Title IX conflicts with the religious organization's tenets and only to that extent. And there is an opportunity for an individual who has been harmed to challenge the exemption in an individual case."

But a growing concern among the LGBT community is that the number of exemption requests has increased greatly since 2013. These requests directly involve the parts of Title IX protecting students based on their gender identity and sexual orientation10.

The Human Rights Campaign (or HRC) is an organization that protects and supports the rights of LGBT people. The HRC released a report in December 2015 on the religious universities that requested and received these exemptions.

The report showed that before 2013, only one school had requested an exemption from the part of Title IX involving gender identity. There were at least 43 similar requests in 2015.

Sarah Warbelow is the Legal Director for HRC. She wrote the report, called "Hidden Discrimination." Warbelow says it is important that this information becomes widely known.

"The majority of these schools did this under the cover of silence. Very few of them talked about it publicly. They were not telling their students."

The HRC report also claimed that the increase in requests is in response to several recent actions by the U.S. government. These actions have been in support of the LGBT community.

A transgender student accused the Arcadia Unified11 School District in Arcadia, California of discrimination in 2011. The U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Education decided12 in 2013 that the school system must provide the student with facilities that matched their gender identity.

The Department of Justice is pursuing a similar solution in another case. A transgender student accused the Gloucester County Public School system in Virginia of discrimination in 2015.

The U.S. Supreme13 Court also decided that the Constitution protects the right of same-sex marriage in 2015.

Massey chose to publicly declare his sexual orientation in his third year at Wheaton. He also became very involved in LGBT rights issues. He often had problems with the administration.

"There was just so many times that Wheaton was very quick to react to me or what was happening on campus because they were fearful of what it meant."

VOA contacted Wheaton College for a comment. But the school did not give a formal response. VOA emailed 45 of the schools that have received or requested an exemption. Several schools declined to comment. Some offered written statements.

Biola University in La Mirada, California is the only school with a religious exemption to Title IX that agreed to an interview. Jerry Mackey is the university’s Legal Counsel. Mackey said there was no controversy14 when the school received its exemption in 1985.

"To my knowledge, there was really no reaction; public, private within the institution… I just don’t think it was a controversial issue at the time at all."

Mackey said the media is trying to cause problems for religious colleges and universities. He also said that Biola is a loving place that tries to treat all of its students with care. But, Mackey said, students are free to study at any school they want.

"People are here because they believe this is the place that they want to be…  So nobody’s forced to come to Biola or any school."

But Massey does not agree. Massey believes that not all young people have total control of where they can study. Some students need their parents to pay for their education. If they do not go to the school their parents want, they will not receive any higher education.

Other students do not completely understand their own sexuality when they first make their choice of school.

Massey chose to finish his four-year degree at Wheaton for several reasons. He did not have enough money to change schools. Also, he had made many friends at Wheaton whom he did not want to leave. In addition, he felt the school needed students willing to fight for LGBT rights.

Massey enjoyed his experience, but says it was difficult.

"If I had known what I was going to go through, I probably would have been hesitant... It’s not the duty of any minority person to change an institution... But I don’t regret having been at Wheaton College."

He also believes there are still more fights to come.

Words in This Story

academic – adj. of or relating to schools and education

faith – n. strong religious feelings or beliefs

homosexual – adj. sexually attracted to people of the same sex

transgender – adj. of or relating to people who have a sexual identity that is not clearly male or clearly female

gender – n. the state of being male or female

exemption – n. freedom from being required to do something that others are required to do

lesbian – adj. a woman who is sexually attracted to other women

bisexual – adj. sexually attracted to both men and women

formal – adj. made or done in an official and usually public way

controversial – adj. relating to or causing much discussion, disagreement, or argument

allowed – adj. given permission to do something

wholesale – adj. affecting large numbers of people or things

tenet(s) – n. a belief or idea that is very important to a group

extent – n. used to indicate the degree to which something exists, happens, or is true

challenge – v. to say or show that something may not be true, correct, or legal

gender identity – n. a personal belief of oneself as male or female, or rarely, both or neither

sexual orientation – n. the state of being bisexual, heterosexual, or homosexual

facilities – n. a room or rooms with a sink and toilet and usually a bathtub or shower

hesitant – adj. slow to act or speak especially because you are nervous or unsure about what to do


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
2 gender slSyD     
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。
3 amendments 39576081718792f25ceae20f3bb99b43     
(法律、文件的)改动( amendment的名词复数 ); 修正案; 修改; (美国宪法的)修正案
参考例句:
  • The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
  • Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。
4 exempt wmgxo     
adj.免除的;v.使免除;n.免税者,被免除义务者
参考例句:
  • These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
  • He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。
5 exemption 3muxo     
n.豁免,免税额,免除
参考例句:
  • You may be able to apply for exemption from local taxes.你可能符合资格申请免除地方税。
  • These goods are subject to exemption from tax.这些货物可以免税。
6 clergy SnZy2     
n.[总称]牧师,神职人员
参考例句:
  • I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望,我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
  • All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。
7 exemptions 98510082c83cd5526d8e262de8a35d2d     
n.(义务等的)免除( exemption的名词复数 );免(税);(收入中的)免税额
参考例句:
  • The exemptions for interpretive rules, policy statements, and procedural rules have just been discussed. 有关解释性规则、政策说明和程序规则的免责我们刚刚讨论过。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
  • A: The regulation outlines specific exemptions for some WPM. 答:该规定概述了某些木质包装材料的特定的例外情形。 来自互联网
8 discriminate NuhxX     
v.区别,辨别,区分;有区别地对待
参考例句:
  • You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
  • They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。
9 wholesale Ig9wL     
n.批发;adv.以批发方式;vt.批发,成批出售
参考例句:
  • The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物,以零售价卖出。
  • Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。
10 orientation IJ4xo     
n.方向,目标;熟悉,适应,情况介绍
参考例句:
  • Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
  • The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。
11 unified 40b03ccf3c2da88cc503272d1de3441c     
(unify 的过去式和过去分词); 统一的; 统一标准的; 一元化的
参考例句:
  • The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
  • The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。
12 decided lvqzZd     
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。
13 supreme PHqzc     
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的
参考例句:
  • It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
  • He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
14 controversy 6Z9y0     
n.争论,辩论,争吵
参考例句:
  • That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
  • We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

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