PBS高端访谈:北卡州政府:我们需要如厕法的明确规定

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: It was an openly contentious¹ day, as the fight intensified² over a controversial state law in North Carolina, restricting bathroom use to one's gender³ at birth.

　　Both the state's governor and legislature sued the federal government, rejecting the Justice Department's view that the law violates civil rights.

　　As we heard a few moments ago, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch vowed⁴ to stand by the transgender community.

　　We are joined now by North Carolina's Republican governor, Pat McCrory.

　　Governor McCrory, welcome.

　　You know…

　　GOV. PAT MCCRORY (R), North Carolina: Thank you, Judy.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Thank you for being with us.

　　You know what the attorney general said today. She said the Justice Department is going to take action to block implementation⁶ of this law. So, will you comply with that move by Justice? Or will you go ahead and try to continue to implement⁵?

　　北卡州政府:我们需要如厕法的明确规定

　　GOV. PAT MCCRORY: No, we're actually taking them to court also.

　　And this is what we are seeking, is clarity in the judicial⁷ system to further define gender identity and gender identity's usage in our restrooms in our high schools, our junior highs, our elementary schools, our universities and our highway rest stops.

　　We just — we are seeking basic clarity of this, because the executive branch doesn't have the power to interpret law. That's the power of the judicial branch. And that's what we're seeking.

　　But what the attorney general has done now with her new ruling is basically all employers in the United States of America and all universities in the United States of America, based upon her letter of interpretation⁸, is saying that all employers must allow gender identity in the private sector⁹ for any employer over 15 employees.

　　That means a man who believes they're a woman would be able to go into a woman's restroom, locker¹⁰ room or shower facility. And that's where the dispute is, and we're asking for basic clarity of that. It is a very complex and emotional issue. And I think the courts are the right way to do it. And then, sooner or later, I think the U.S. Congress has got to get clarity on this whole issue also.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, Governor, we will see how it plays out legally.

　　But I'm sure you heard the attorney general say today — she said this amounts to state-sponsored discrimination. She compared it to the Jim Crow laws of decades ago, wherein African-American, black Americans were not allowed to use restrooms that white people were. She said this is harming innocent people.

　　GOV. PAT MCCRORY: That's extremely divisive rhetoric¹¹ and dangerous rhetoric, which is totally be related to an issue on whether a male or female should use a male bathroom or a female restroom.

　　In fact, my chief of staff, whose father was a civil rights pioneer in Durham, where the attorney general also grew up, we were watching that together. And he went, don't — don't go there. There is absolutely no connection.

　　This is an issue which is really about privacy vs. equality and that balance. And people have an expectation of privacy, according to many of our citizens, not just in North Carolina, but, again, this is now going to be a nationwide issue. When you go to a restroom or to a locker room or to a shower facility, there is an expectation of privacy, that the only other people in that room, in a very private moment, I might add, will be people of the same gender.

　　And we have got to resolve this very complex and new issue that was actually brought up by the left, political left, not the political right.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, Governor — Governor, as I'm sure you also know, what the transgender community would argue is that their privacy is at stake as well.

　　And we heard the attorney general say, she said — and I guess this is the language in the lawsuit¹² — they say this is causing transgender people to suffer emotional harm, mental anguish¹³, distress¹⁴, humiliation¹⁵, indignity¹⁶.

　　Do you acknowledge that there is that effect from this law?

　　GOV. PAT MCCRORY: I acknowledge we need to work this out. And what we do in North Carolina and what many states are doing right now — I think over 27 other states have almost identical laws as North Carolina, so this is not just a North Carolina issue — is, we — I actually encourage other types of arrangements for people of transgender.

　　It might be a unisex restroom or shower facility that is not in a multipurpose area, to respect both the unique needs of a transgender or to meet the unique needs of girls and boys and men and women and their families, which are the norms that we have been using in America for generations. It is a very complex issue.

　　I'm extremely sensitive to people's gender identity, which is a brand-new term in the last several years. But they are now interpreting, not only gender identity. There's a new term, gender expression, which has not been clearly defined. And we need to get that definition. And I don't think it's the executive branch's role to define that.

　　I think that belongs either in the courts. Or, frankly¹⁷, I think the U.S. Congress needs to quit ignoring this issue. And, by the way, I'm talking to my Republicans. I think they need to get clarity on this issue for all of the nation and all employers.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Governor McCrory, do you know anyone who is transgender, and, if so, what have they said to you about this?

　　GOV. PAT MCCRORY: You know, different reactions. Some of the transgender community that I have talked to is frankly upset that the political left brought this up, because they didn't think there was much of a problem.

　　I didn't know — we weren't having a problem in North Carolina until the city of Charlotte, before that, the city of Houston, brought up a mandate¹⁸ for all private sector employers. And I might add, just six months ago, the city of Houston rejected by a 61 percent of the vote of the people a similar mandate.

　　And no one, including the attorney general, attacked the city of Houston. But, for some reason, they're now attacking the state where she grew up in. And, again, this is not just a North Carolina issue. This needs clarity by the courts and by the U.S. Congress.

　　I don't think we should have different anti-discrimination laws relating to this across the nation. I think this is a federal issue, as most discrimination laws are. And I think we need consistency¹⁹. And this is where the courts need to step in. And I am very, very sensitive to all sides of this issue.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Very quickly, Governor, we have just a few seconds left. We know that a number of businesses have expressed their unhappiness about this, said that they're either not going to move to the state or they're not going to bring events to the state. How big a hit are you prepared to take to see North Carolina take financially?

　　GOV. PAT MCCRORY: Well, that's why I am taking it to the courts.

　　We are had one business, PayPal, which, by the way, does business in Sudan, and Iran and Saudi Arabia, where the gay and lesbian community is not welcomed at all. In fact, they are killed. So there is a little selective hypocrisy²⁰ by one or two companies.

　　But we want to work with the private sector. And, again, this is not just a North Carolina issue. This is going to be an issue for the entire United States, and I think the federal government does need to step in through the courts or through the U.S. Congress and give us all clarity in not only state government, but local governments throughout the United States.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, we thank you.

　　GOV. PAT MCCRORY: Thank you very much, Judy.

 

1 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

2 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

7 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

8 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

11 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。

12 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

13 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

14 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

15 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

16 indignity   

n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑

参考例句：

• For more than a year we have suffered the indignity.在一年多的时间里,我们丢尽了丑。
• She was subjected to indignity and humiliation.她受到侮辱和羞辱。

17 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

18 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

19 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

20 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。