同性戀權益團體該爲消滅艾滋病做些什麼

ATLANTA — LAST week Jennifer Mumaugh and A. J. McDaniel became the first same-sex couple to marry in Wyoming. They celebrated their union in Cheyenne, just miles away from where Matthew Shepard was left to die only 16 years ago. Wyoming thus became the 32nd state to allow gay marriage — explicitly or, by refusing to appeal court decisions, implicitly. Alaska. Arizona. Idaho. All have fallen this month.

亞特蘭大——上週，珍妮弗·慕茅(Jennifer Mumaugh)和A·J·麥克丹尼爾(A. J. McDaniel)成爲第一對在懷俄明州結婚的同性情侶。她們在夏延(Cheyenne)慶祝這件喜事，那裏距離馬修·謝巴德(Matthew Shepard)16年前慘死的地方不過數英里之遙。懷俄明州也因此成爲第32個允許同性婚姻的州——這些州或者明確地允許，或者以拒絕對法院判決提起上訴的方式表示默許。阿拉斯加、亞利桑那州和愛達荷州本月也加入了這個行列。

These are great advances, and there is no question that those who believe in marriage equality must be vigilant in protecting them. But as engaged as the gay community and civil rights activists have been in the fight for marriage equality, we have lost ground on the fight that so intensely galvanized the gay community to begin with: H.I.V. and AIDS.

這是巨大的進步，而且毫無疑問，婚姻平權的支持者必須保持警惕，來捍衛這些進展。但是，在同性戀社區和公民權利活動人士努力爲婚姻平權而鬥爭的時候，我們卻在抗擊艾滋病毒和艾滋病的戰場上節節敗退；而這場鬥爭最初曾強烈激發了同性戀社區的行動。

We need the same coalition that brought about marriage equality — from gay activists, human rights champions and social justice advocates to legal experts and courageous policy makers — to address the spiraling AIDS crisis again.

要再次應對日益嚴重的艾滋病危機，我們仍然需要婚姻平權活動中的那些盟軍——從同性戀權益活動人士、人權衛士和社會公正倡導者，到法律專家和勇敢的決策者。

Why? Because 30 years after the AIDS epidemic began, rates of infection in the United States are still at unacceptable levels. One in eight gay men is H.I.V.-positive, and yet a majority of gay and bisexual men say they are “not concerned” about H.I.V., according to new research from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

這是爲什麼呢？因爲在艾滋病開始流行30年後，美國的感染率仍處於不可接受的水平。在八個男同性戀者中，就有一個艾滋病病毒檢測呈陽性，但凱澤家族基金會(Kaiser Family Foundation)的資料顯示，大多數同性戀和雙性戀男性說，他們“不擔心”艾滋病毒。

Just a third of the men surveyed even knew that H.I.V. infections were increasing in the United States. Thirty percent said they had never been tested, and a majority reported that they hadn’t been tested in the last year, going against recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

接受調查的男性中，甚至只有略多於三分之一的人知道，美國的艾滋病毒感染者越來越多。30%的人說，他們從來沒有做過艾滋病毒測試，而且大多數人都說，他們去年沒有做過測試，這與美國疾病控制與預防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)的建議背道而馳。

Many view the drug Truvada — often used in pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP — as a miracle drug that will end AIDS. I share in this excitement, and have great hope for PrEP — and praise for leaders who advocate its wider use. But only a quarter of those men surveyed by Kaiser had ever even heard of PrEP.

很多人把特魯瓦達(Truvada)——經常用於暴露前預防，簡稱PrEP——當作一種靈藥，覺得它將會消滅艾滋病。我也對此感到激動，並對PrEP抱有很大希望——而且讚揚那些提倡廣泛應用它的領導者。但凱澤的調查顯示，只有四分之一的受訪者曾經聽說過PrEP。

In short, as the gay community celebrates the march of marriage, we are failing to maintain the kind of basic awareness and education that is needed to save lives.

總之，就在同性戀社區慶祝婚姻方面的進步時，我們沒有繼續給人們灌輸一種可以拯救生命的基本意識和知識。

Of course, the continued prevalence of H.I.V. should shake the conscience of all Americans — not just those in the gay community. For example, today AIDS is among the leading causes of death for African-American men.

當然，艾滋病不斷蔓延的狀況應該觸動所有美國人的良知——而不只是觸動同性戀社區。舉例來說，目前艾滋病是非裔美國人的主要死因之一。

In the South, new infections are at rates rivaling the 1980s, fueled by a toxic mix of homophobia, poverty and poor choices by policy makers, like the refusal of many Southern governors to expand Medicaid.

在南方，新感染人數增加的速度，不亞於上世紀80年代；這種狀況的推動因素包括恐同意識、貧困和政策制定者的錯誤選擇，比如南方很多州的州長拒絕擴大聯邦醫療補助(Medicaid)。

What, then, can be done?

那麼，我們可以做些什麼呢？

First, the gay community needs to take a hard look in the mirror and start to address these concerns in our own backyard.

首先，同性戀羣體需要認真反思，着手解決自家後院這些問題。

Last week my organization, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, announced a series of grants to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organizations to promote testing and prevention, spread awareness and fight anti-H.I.V. stigma. I hope other organizations will join us in identifying the groups at the greatest risk of contracting H.I.V. and working with people in those groups to find stability and hope. And while I hope that groups outside the lesbian and gay community join us, I do believe that those of us within the community have a special obligation.

上週，我的埃爾頓·約翰艾滋病基金會(Elton John AIDS Foundation)宣佈，向女同性戀、男同性戀、雙性戀和跨性別者組織提供一系列捐贈，以推動艾滋病毒檢測和預防活動，提升公衆意識，洗除抗艾滋病毒的污名。我希望其他組織與我們一起，查明那些感染艾滋病毒風險最高的羣體是哪些，並與這些羣體的人一起努力，來找到安穩和希望。雖然我希望同性戀社區之外的團體能加入我們，但我認爲，在這件事上，我們社區本身肩負着特別的義務。

Second, all Americans need to recognize the AIDS epidemic for what it has become: a crisis of stigma, marginalization and inequality. Medical advances and treatments like PrEP can get us close to the end of AIDS, but only if enough people can afford them. That means going beyond AIDS itself to attack the root causes of these rising infection rates, like poverty, homelessness, addiction and limited access to health care.

其次，所有的美國人都需要認識到，艾滋病的流行已經已成爲了一場有關“恥辱、邊緣化和不平等”的危機。醫學進步和PrEP等療法，可以讓我們向消滅艾滋病的目標靠近，但只有當足夠多的人負擔得起費用的時候，纔有希望。這意味着，我們需要超越艾滋病本身，與導致感染率上升的根本原因做鬥爭，比如貧窮、無家可歸、吸毒和醫療覆蓋面有限等問題。

Finally, as a society we need to learn to view the AIDS crisis with compassion. What helped to win marriage equality were the images of loving couples being given a chance to exercise their humanity and their basic rights. So, too, can telling the stories of those with H.I.V. and AIDS striving to live with dignity help us reach the end of AIDS.

最後，作爲一個社會，我們要學會用同情的目光來看待艾滋病危機。推動婚姻平權活動取得勝利的一個因素，是“美滿情侶”有了履行其人性和基本權利的機會。因此，講述艾滋病毒感染者和艾滋病人有尊嚴地生活的故事，也可以爲我們消滅艾滋病提供一些幫助。

Within just a few decades, we have moved from a nation with laws against consensual sex into a place where members of the gay community can marry, adopt children and expect to live a good life. That’s a wonderful thing, but we have to remember that it’s not the only thing.

在短短几十年裏，這個國家已經從用法律來約束自願發生性行爲的時代，進入了同性戀者可以結婚、領養孩子，並且有望過上美好生活的時代。這非常好，但我們必須記住，還有其他事情需要努力。

I came out publicly in 1976, just before the beginning of the AIDS crisis. The gay community I inhabited in those years never dreamed of marriage equality — we simply wanted to live, and to stop the terrible epidemic that kept killing our loved ones. We’ve come a long way. But as we celebrate these victories, we must also come together and redouble our efforts to end H.I.V. Only then will we truly have won freedom and equality.

我公開同性戀身份是在1976年，就在艾滋病危機爆發的不久前。那些年裏，我所在的同性戀社區從未想過婚姻平權——我們只是想活下去，想阻止可怕的艾滋病奪走我們所愛的人的生命。我們走過了漫長的路。但是，當我們慶祝這些勝利時，我們也必須並肩攜手，付出加倍的努力來消滅艾滋病，只有這樣，我們才能真正贏得自由和平等。