美国国家公共电台 NPR--Texas GOP platform embraces far-right and anti-gay rhetoric

Texas GOP platform embraces far-right and anti-gay rhetoric¹

Transcript²

Texas Republicans recently adopted homophobic and transphobic language in their party platform, part of a larger trend of moves against LGBTQ rights by conservatives.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Texas Republicans recently inserted homophobic and transphobic language into the state party's platform. This happened at their annual convention last week in the middle of Pride Month. Party leaders also excluded members of the nation's oldest conservative LGBTQ group from parts of the convention. NPR's Ashley Lopez was there and joins us now. Good morning, Ashley.

ASHLEY LOPEZ, BYLINE³: Good morning.

FADEL: So, Ashley, let's start with this bigoted⁴ language that made it into the platform. What exactly was added?

A LOPEZ: So there were only a couple of planks⁵ that covered these issues. In total, there are about 270 planks in the platform, by the way. And LGBT issues came up in about five or six planks depending how you count them. But what Texas Republicans had to say about gay rights and homosexuality and transgender people really stands out. First and foremost, the party wrote that homosexuality is an abnormal lifestyle choice. They also included language that says there shouldn't be any special legal protections for gay, lesbian and bisexual people, and they oppose any criminal or civil penalties against people who oppose homosexuality. And last, the party says they oppose all efforts to validate⁷ transgender identity. And that for anyone under 21, no medical provider should be allowed to provide services to that person affirming their gender⁶ identity.

FADEL: Wow. In 2022, to write this into the state party platform, and there are LGBTQ Republicans. What was it like for them to see this?

A LOPEZ: Well, you know, this was a tough event for gay Republicans. Party leaders actually barred a group of Log Cabin Republicans from Fort Worth from having a booth at the event. The Log Cabin Republicans are the oldest and largest group of conservative LGBTQ people in the country. I spoke⁸ to one of their members, Michael Cargill, who is part of the state chapter. He says that in general, he agrees with Texas Republicans on so many issues, particularly gun rights. He sounded a little frustrated⁹ that, like, gay rights and inclusion is even something the party is still debating.

MICHAEL CARGILL: You have a small minority of people that call themselves Christian¹⁰ conservatives that have forgotten what the Bible actually says. God is the only judge. And as a conservative Christian, we should spend more time loving each other instead of judging each other.

A LOPEZ: I will say Cargill also told me that he has no intention of leaving the party over this. In fact, he says, he plans on going to the next convention where he can work on making the platform more inclusive.

FADEL: OK. So he says these voices fighting LGBTQ rights are a minority in the party, but these words got into the party platform. You describe party leaders stopping the Log Cabin Republicans from having a booth. So even if a minority, it sounds like these voices are influential¹¹.

A LOPEZ: They really are. And you can see the influence beyond just the planks in a party platform. Carisa Lopez with the Texas Freedom Network says Republicans in Texas have been codifying¹² what she sees as discrimination into state law for the past few years.

CARISA LOPEZ: They have passed laws that open the door to discrimination for LGBTQ couples who want to adopt. They are still trying to undermine marriage. They've tried to regulate which bathrooms people can use. And now, currently, we're in a battle where they're going after families who affirm their trans children.

A LOPEZ: By and large, though, voters in Texas, including Republicans and independents, are more accepting of the LGBT community than people attending the party convention, you know, who hold more extreme opinions than Republican voters as a whole. But at the same time, you know, this is the base of the party, and they have a lot of influence.

FADEL: NPR's Ashley Lopez in Austin, thank you so much.

A LOPEZ: Yeah, thank you.

1 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 bigoted   

adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• He is so bigoted that it is impossible to argue with him.他固执得不可理喻。
• I'll concede you are not as bigoted as some.我承认你不象有些人那么顽固。

5 planks   

（厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点

参考例句：

• The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
• We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。

6 gender   

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。

7 validate   

vt.（法律）使有效，使生效

参考例句：

• You need an official signature to validate the order.你要有正式的签字，这张汇票才能生效。
• In order to validate the agreement,both parties sign it.为使协议有效，双方在上面签了字。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 Christian   

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。

11 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

12 codifying   

v.把（法律）编成法典( codify的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• For this reason, the disputations of codifying administrative procedures in domain are becoming more and more. 因此，有关行政程序法典化的各种争论在理论界也愈来愈多。 来自互联网