英文演讲录 玛丽莎·托梅：站出来勇敢表达(1)

When I was a little girl growing up in middle-class New Jersey¹, my entire artistic² life was curated by people who lived in the straight jacket of a very conformist suburban³ life.

当我还是个小女孩的时候，我生长在新泽西州的中产阶级家庭，我的整个艺术生活都是由那些在刻板郊区生活中的人策划的。

In the late '50s and early '60s, all the houses in my neighborhood were the same size.

在50年代末和60年代初，我家附近所有的房子都是一样大小的。

In the developments, they even were the same shape and color and style.

慢慢发展，他们甚至形状，颜色和风格也是相同的。

And in the schools, your job was to put pennies in your loafers and look the same as everybody else and act the same way as everybody else.

在学校里，你的工作就是把硬币放进你的乐福鞋里，看起来和其他人一样，举止也和其他人一样。

Standing⁴ out, being different was like drawing a target on your forehead.

脱颖而出，与众不同就像在你的额头上画了一个靶子。

And you had to have a special kind of courage to do it.

你必须有一种特殊的勇气才能做到这一点。

And some of my teachers were obliged to live their whole lives hidden, covertly⁵.

我的一些老师被迫隐蔽地度过他们的一生。

But my sixth and seventh grade music teacher, Paul Grossman, was one of the bravest people I knew.

但是我六年级和七年级的音乐老师保罗·格罗斯曼是我认识的最勇敢的人之一。

Because later, when I was in graduate school, I read that he had transitioned and become one of the first transgender women in the country.

因为后来我读研究生的时候，我得知他变性了，成为这个国家第一批变性女性之一。

And after the operation, she reported back as Paula Grossman.

手术后，她以保拉·格罗斯曼的身份报到。

To our middle school in Basking⁶ Ridge⁷, New Jersey, where she had taught for 30 years, and she was promptly⁸ fired.

去了我们位于新泽西州巴辛岭的中学，她曾在那里教了30年书，但她很快就被解雇了。

But she pursued her case for wrongful dismissal and back pay through the courts for seven years, all the way to the Supreme⁹ Court.

但她在法庭上以非法解雇和欠薪为由追诉了7年，一直到最高法院。

Unfortunately, her case was not accepted, and she lost, but she won her pension under a Disability Allowance settlement, although she was disabled only the small minds of the school board.

不幸的是，她的案子没有被受理，她输了，但她根据残疾津贴和解协议赢得了养老金，尽管她的残疾只是学校董事的狭隘思想。

She was a garrulous¹⁰, cantankerous¹¹, terrific teacher, and she never taught again.

她是一位唠叨的、脾气不好的、可怕的老师，从此再也不教书了。

But her case set the stage for many discrimination cases that followed.

但她的案件为随后的许多歧视案件奠定了基础。

She and her wife raised their three girls.

她和妻子抚养他们的三个女儿。

She worked as a town planner, and she had an act playing piano and singing in cocktail¹² lounges around New Jersey.

她后来做了一名城镇规划师，也在新泽西的鸡尾酒酒吧里弹钢琴唱歌。

But I remember her as Mr. Grossman, and I remember when he took us on a field trip to the Statue of Liberty in 1961.

但我记得她是格罗斯曼先生，我还记得1961年他带我们去参观自由女神像。

And our whole class stood at the feet of that huge, beautiful woman and sang a song he had taught us, that was taken from the lyrics¹³, the lyrics were taken from the poem by Emma Lazarus engraved¹⁴ at the base of the monument.

我们全班站在那位高大美丽的女士脚下，唱着他教我们的一首歌，歌词取自刻在纪念碑底部的艾玛·拉撒路的诗。

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

3 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 covertly   

adv.偷偷摸摸地

参考例句：

• Naval organizations were covertly incorporated into civil ministries. 各种海军组织秘密地混合在各民政机关之中。 来自辞典例句
• Modern terrorism is noteworthy today in that it is being done covertly. 现代的恐怖活动在今天是值得注意的，由于它是秘密进行的。 来自互联网

6 basking   

v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的现在分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽

参考例句：

• We sat basking in the warm sunshine. 我们坐着享受温暖的阳光。
• A colony of seals lay basking in the sun. 一群海豹躺着晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

8 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 garrulous   

adj.唠叨的，多话的

参考例句：

• He became positively garrulous after a few glasses of wine.他几杯葡萄酒下肚之后便唠唠叨叨说个没完。
• My garrulous neighbour had given away the secret.我那爱唠叨的邻居已把秘密泄露了。

11 cantankerous   

adj.爱争吵的，脾气不好的

参考例句：

• He met a crabbed,cantankerous director.他碰上了一位坏脾气、爱争吵的主管。
• The cantankerous bus driver rouse on the children for singing.那个坏脾气的公共汽车司机因为孩子们唱歌而骂他们。

12 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

13 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

14 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》