Alright, let's get this kicked off.
好,咱們開始吧。
(Music)
(音樂)
(Singing) It's OK to be gay. We are different in many ways. Doesn't matter if you're a boy, girl or somewhere in between, we all are part of one big family. Gay means "happy." Queer Kid Stuff. You are enough here at Queer Kid Stuff.
(唱歌)身為同性戀沒有關係, 我們在許多方面都有所不同。 不論你是男孩、女孩, 或兩者之間,都無所謂, 我們都是大家庭的一份子。 Gay(同性戀)也代表「快樂」。 《酷兒孩子網路劇》。 在《酷兒孩子網路劇》, 你很夠格了。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Opening a performance with lyrics like "It's OK to be gay" for a roomful of adults is one thing, but it's entirely different for a roomful of kindergartners. What you've just heard is the theme song for my web series "Queer Kid Stuff," where I make LGBTQ+ and social justice videos for all ages. And when I say all ages, I mean literal babies to your great-great-grandma.
在一間滿是成人的房間中表演, 以「身為同性戀沒有關係」的 歌詞開場是一回事; 但在滿是幼稚園小朋友的房間中 又完全是另一回事了。 你們剛剛聽到的是我的 《酷兒孩子網路劇》的主題曲, 這個網路劇是我針對各年齡層 製作的 LGBTQ+ 及社會正義影片。 我說的各年齡層,真的是從嬰兒 一直到曾曾祖母。
Now, I know what you're thinking: "Whoa, they're talking about gay stuff with kids." But talking to kids about gay stuff is actually crucial. The American Academy of Pediatrics has found that children have a solid understanding of their gender identity by the age of four. This is when children are developing their sense of self. They're observing the world around them, absorbing that information and internalizing it. Now, most parents want their children to become kind, empathetic, self-confident adults, and exposure to diversity is an important part of that social and emotional development. And -- gender nonconforming kids and trans kids and kids with trans and nonbinary and queer parents are everywhere.
我知道你們在想什麼: 「哇,他們在跟孩子 談同性戀的題材。」 但,跟孩子談同性戀的 題材其實很重要。 美國兒科學會發現, 孩子在四歲時就會清楚了解 自己的性別認同。 這個時期就是孩子 發展出自我感的時期。 他們會觀察周遭的世界, 吸收那些資訊, 並將之內化。 大部分的父母都希望 自己的孩子長大成人後 能變得仁慈、有同理心、自信, 而接觸多樣性對其社會發展 和情緒發展而言十分重要。 而且非常規性別的 孩子、變性的孩子, 以及父母是變性、 非二元、酷兒的孩子 比比皆是。
In the series, my stuffed bear cohost and I talk about the LGBT community, activism, gender and pronouns, consent and body positivity. We tackle these topics through songs, not unlike the one you just heard, simple definitions and metaphors. We approach these ideas, to steal a phrase from an old professor of mine, from "under the doorknob" -- getting down to toddler height and looking up at the great big world through their tiny little eyes, taking these seemingly complex ideas and simplifying them -- not dumbing them down, but homing in on the core concept. Gender is about how we feel and how we express ourselves. Sexuality is about love and gender and family, not about sex. And these are all ideas children can grasp. In one of my earliest episodes about gender, I used the idea of pronouns to underscore the definition and introduce gender-neutral pronouns like "they" and "them." I encourage children to think about their own pronouns and to ask others for theirs. In later episodes, I build on this foundation and introduce big fancy words like "nonbinary" and "transgender." I get emails from viewers in their 20s who use my videos to explain nonbinary gender to their grandparents.
在劇中,我的填充熊搭擋 和我會談論 LGBT 族群、 LGBT 行動主義、性別以及代名詞、 同意和身體自愛。 我們透過歌曲來處理這些主題, 就像你們剛才聽到的那首歌, 有簡單的定義和比喻。 我們處理這些想法的方式, 可借用我的一位老教授的說法, 來自《門把之下》—— 降到學步兒童的身高, 透過他們小小的眼睛, 向上看向廣大的世界, 簡化這些看似複雜的想法—— 不是變通俗, 而是瞄準核心概念。 性別的重點是我們對自己的 感受和如何表現自己。 性向的重點則是愛、性別和家庭, 而不是性愛。 這些都是孩子能夠理解的想法。 在我最早期針對性別 所製做的其中一集裡, 我用到了代名詞的想法, 來強調定義, 並介紹中性的代名詞, 如「他們」(英文不分性別)。 我鼓勵孩子們去想想 他們自己的代名詞, 並問問其他人的代名詞。 後來的幾集就是 繼續發展這個基礎, 並介紹很炫的字詞, 像是「非二元」及「變性」。 有些二十多歲的觀眾寫信給我, 他們用我的影片來向他們的 祖父母解釋非二元性別。
But, I get one comment over and over again: "Let kids be kids."
但,我總是不斷得到這種意見: 「讓孩子當孩子吧。」
Well, that's a nice sentiment and all, but only if it actually includes all kids. Just a few weeks ago, a 15-year-old in Huntsville, Alabama died by suicide after being bullied for being gay. In 2018, it was a seven-year-old in Denver, Colorado. There have been and will be many more. Lesbian, gay and bisexual teens are more than three times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers, and transgender teens are almost six times more likely. According to one study, roughly one third of homeless youth identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning, and about four percent of homeless youth identify as transgender, compared with one percent of the general youth population surveyed. According to the Human Rights Campaign, there have been 128 killings of trans people in 87 cities across 32 states since 2013. And those are the only the reported cases. And 80 percent of those killings were of trans women of color. The queer situation is bleak, to say the least.
那個觀點很好, 但前提是它指的是所有的孩子。 就在幾個星期之前, 阿拉巴馬州亨茨維爾的十五歲孩子 因為身為同性戀 被霸凌而輕生自殺。 2018 年,同樣的事發生在 科羅拉多州丹佛的七歲孩子身上。 有很多這樣的孩子, 將來還會有更多。 女、男同性戀及雙性戀的 青少年自殺的機率 比同儕的異性戀青少年 要高三倍以上, 而變性的青少年自殺率 幾乎要高達六倍。 根據一項研究,無家可歸的 青年當中,大約有三分之一 是女、男同性戀、 雙性戀或性別存疑, 大約 4% 是變性人, 相較之下,被調查的對象中 一般青年人口只佔 1%。 根據人權戰線(組織)的資料, 2013 年起, 在 32 州的 87 個城市中, 共有 128 名變性人遭殺害。 那些還只是有被舉報的案例。 那些殺人案中,有八成受害者 是有色人種的變性女子。 酷兒的情況很淒涼, 甚至更糟。
The YouTube comments on my videos are not much better. I'm used to the harassment. I get messages daily telling me I'm a pedophile and that I should kill myself in a number of increasingly creative ways. I once had to put the word "truck" on my block list because someone wanted me to get run over by a truck. "Shower" and "oven" are in there, too, for the less creative and more disturbing Holocaust reference. When neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville, I was unsurprised to learn that the creator of a violent Reddit meme about one of my episodes was in the tiki torch crowd. This barrage of negativity is what we're up against: the crushing statistics, the violence, the mental health risks, the well-meaning but flawed response my parents gave me when I came out, that they didn't want me to have a harder life. That's what we're up against.
在 YouTube 上大家針對 我的影片留言的意見 也好不到哪裡去。 我很習慣被騷擾了。 每天我都會收到 罵我戀童癖的訊息, 說我應該自殺,還幫我 想了很多有創意的死法。 我還曾經把「卡車」一詞 放到我的阻擋清單中, 因為有人希望我被卡車撞死。 「淋浴」和「烤箱」 也都上了名單, 在比較沒創意、比較擾人的 大屠殺訊息中會出現這些詞。 當新納粹主義者行經夏律第鎮, 並不意外,我得知 從著我的網路劇而來的暴力 Reddit(網站)迷因的創作者 也在拿著夏威夷 提基火把的群眾裡面。 這種負面的猛烈攻擊, 就是我們要對抗的: 壓倒性的統計數字、 暴力、心理健康風險、 我出櫃時我父母出於好意 給我的不理想回應, 他們說,不希望 我過比較辛苦的人生。 那些就是我們在對抗的。
But in the face of all that, I choose joy. I choose rainbows and unicorns and glitter, and I sing that it's OK to be gay with my childhood stuffed teddy bear. I make queer media for kids because I wish I had this when I was their age. I make it so others don't have to struggle through what I did, not understanding my identity because I didn't have any exposure to who I could be. I teach and spread this message through joy and positivity instead of framing it around the hardships of queer life. I want kids to grow up and into themselves with pride for who they are and who they can be, no matter who they love or what they wear or what pronouns they use. And I want them to love others for their differences, not in spite of them. I think fostering this pride and empathy will make the world a kinder and more equal place and combat the bigotry and hate that festers in our world.
但,在面對這一切時, 我選擇喜悅。 我選擇彩虹、獨角獸、閃閃發光, 我和兒時的泰迪填充熊一起 唱出「身為同性戀沒有關係」。 我為孩子做酷兒媒體, 因為我多希望自己 在那個年紀時有這些東西。 我製作這些,讓其他人不用 再經歷我所經歷過的掙扎, 我當年不了解我的性別認同, 因為我不知道我能夠 成為什麼樣的人。 我選擇教導、散播這個訊息的 方式,是透過喜悅和正面態度, 而不是把話題一直繞著 酷兒生活有多苦打轉。 我希望孩子長大後能做他們自己, 對自己是什麼人、 能夠成為什麼人感到驕傲。 不論他們愛誰、穿什麼 或使用什麼代名詞。 我希望人們能因 別人的差異而愛他們, 而不是儘管有差異仍然愛他們。 我認為培養這種自尊心和同理心 能夠讓世界變得更仁慈、更平等, 並對抗那些讓世界 惡化的盲從和仇恨。
So, talk to a kid about gender. Talk to a kid about sexuality. Teach them about consent. Tell them it is OK for boys to wear dresses and for girls to speak up. Let's spread radical queer joy.
所以,和孩子談談性別, 和孩子談談性向, 教導他們同意。 告訴他們,男孩穿洋裝、 女孩大聲說話,都沒有關係。 讓我們來散播基本的酷兒喜悅。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)