同性恋权益团体该为消灭艾滋病做些什么

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.

亚特兰大——上周，珍妮弗·慕茅(Jennifer Mumaugh)和A·J·麦克丹尼尔(A. J. McDaniel)成为第一对在怀俄明州结婚的同性情侣。她们在夏延(Cheyenne)庆祝这件喜事，那里距离马修·谢巴德(Matthew Shepard)16年前惨死的地方不过数英里之遥。怀俄明州也因此成为第32个允许同性婚姻的州——这些州或者明确地允许，或者以拒绝对法院判决提起上诉的方式表示默许。阿拉斯加、亚利桑那州和爱达荷州本月也加入了这个行列。

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.

这是巨大的进步，而且毫无疑问，婚姻平权的支持者必须保持警惕，来捍卫这些进展。但是，在同性恋社区和公民权利活动人士努力为婚姻平权而斗争的时候，我们却在抗击艾滋病毒和艾滋病的战场上节节败退；而这场斗争最初曾强烈激发了同性恋社区的行动。

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.

要再次应对日益严重的艾滋病危机，我们仍然需要婚姻平权活动中的那些盟军——从同性恋权益活动人士、人权卫士和社会公正倡导者，到法律专家和勇敢的决策者。

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.

这是为什么呢？因为在艾滋病开始流行30年后，美国的感染率仍处于不可接受的水平。在八个男同性恋者中，就有一个艾滋病病毒检测呈阳性，但凯泽家族基金会(Kaiser Family Foundation)的资料显示，大多数同性恋和双性恋男性说，他们“不担心”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.

接受调查的男性中，甚至只有略多于三分之一的人知道，美国的艾滋病毒感染者越来越多。30%的人说，他们从来没有做过艾滋病毒测试，而且大多数人都说，他们去年没有做过测试，这与美国疾病控制与预防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)的建议背道而驰。

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.

很多人把特鲁瓦达(Truvada)——经常用于暴露前预防，简称PrEP——当作一种灵药，觉得它将会消灭艾滋病。我也对此感到激动，并对PrEP抱有很大希望——而且赞扬那些提倡广泛应用它的领导者。但凯泽的调查显示，只有四分之一的受访者曾经听说过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.

总之，就在同性恋社区庆祝婚姻方面的进步时，我们没有继续给人们灌输一种可以拯救生命的基本意识和知识。

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.

当然，艾滋病不断蔓延的状况应该触动所有美国人的良知——而不只是触动同性恋社区。举例来说，目前艾滋病是非裔美国人的主要死因之一。

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，新感染人数增加的速度，不亚于上世纪80年代；这种状况的推动因素包括恐同意识、贫困和政策制定者的错误选择，比如南方很多州的州长拒绝扩大联邦医疗补助(Medicaid)。

What, then, can be done?

那么，我们可以做些什么呢？

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，同性恋群体需要认真反思，着手解决自家后院这些问题。

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.

上周，我的埃尔顿·约翰艾滋病基金会(Elton John AIDS Foundation)宣布，向女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋和跨性别者组织提供一系列捐赠，以推动艾滋病毒检测和预防活动，提升公众意识，洗除抗艾滋病毒的污名。我希望其他组织与我们一起，查明那些感染艾滋病毒风险最高的群体是哪些，并与这些群体的人一起努力，来找到安稳和希望。虽然我希望同性恋社区之外的团体能加入我们，但我认为，在这件事上，我们社区本身肩负着特别的义务。

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，所有的美国人都需要认识到，艾滋病的流行已经已成为了一场有关“耻辱、边缘化和不平等”的危机。医学进步和PrEP等疗法，可以让我们向消灭艾滋病的目标靠近，但只有当足够多的人负担得起费用的时候，才有希望。这意味着，我们需要超越艾滋病本身，与导致感染率上升的根本原因做斗争，比如贫穷、无家可归、吸毒和医疗覆盖面有限等问题。

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.

最后，作为一个社会，我们要学会用同情的目光来看待艾滋病危机。推动婚姻平权活动取得胜利的一个因素，是“美满情侣”有了履行其人性和基本权利的机会。因此，讲述艾滋病毒感染者和艾滋病人有尊严地生活的故事，也可以为我们消灭艾滋病提供一些帮助。

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.

在短短几十年里，这个国家已经从用法律来约束自愿发生性行为的时代，进入了同性恋者可以结婚、领养孩子，并且有望过上美好生活的时代。这非常好，但我们必须记住，还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.

我公开同性恋身份是在1976年，就在艾滋病危机爆发的不久前。那些年里，我所在的同性恋社区从未想过婚姻平权——我们只是想活下去，想阻止可怕的艾滋病夺走我们所爱的人的生命。我们走过了漫长的路。但是，当我们庆祝这些胜利时，我们也必须并肩携手，付出加倍的努力来消灭艾滋病，只有这样，我们才能真正赢得自由和平等。