无论是否天生,同志就在那里

What’s more, the born-this-way approach carries an unintended implication that the behavior of gays and lesbians needs biological grounding to evade condemnation. Why should it?
此外，这种“生来如此”的想法无意中带着一种暗示，即暗示同性恋的行为需要在生物学基础上来规避非难。为什么应该这样呢？

Our laws safeguard religious freedom, and that’s not because there’s a Presbyterian, Buddhist or Mormon gene. There’s only a tradition and theology that you elect or decline to follow. But this country has deemed worshiping in a way that feels consonant with who you are to be essential to a person’s humanity. So it’s protected.
我们的法律捍卫我们的宗教自由，并不是因为存在着长老教会友基因、佛教徒基因或者摩门教徒基因。只不过有这么一种传统或者神学理论，而你选择或拒绝信仰它。但是，这个国家已经认可，以一种与自我认知相符合的方式来进行敬奉，对于一个人的人性是十分重要的。因此宗教自由受到保护。

Our laws also safeguard the right to bear arms: not exactly a biological imperative.
我们的法律也保护持有枪械的权利：这也不完全是出于生物学上的需要。

Among adults, the right to love whom you’re moved to love — and to express it through sex and maybe, yes, marriage — is surely as vital to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as a Glock. And it’s a lot less likely to cause injury, if that’s a deciding factor: how a person’s actions affect the community around him or her.
对成年人来说，去爱打动了你的爱人的权利，并通过性爱或者婚姻，来表达你的爱——这种权利就如同格洛克手枪一样，对捍卫生命、自由以及对幸福的追求至关重要。而且这种权利（比起枪械来说）几乎不会构成危害，如果把一个人的行为对周边社区的影响也算作一种决定性因素的话。（注：格洛克（Glock），专产手枪的奥地利著名枪械公司。美国宪法保障私人持有枪械的权利，而格洛克手枪是最常见的一种私人枪械，美国销量第一的枪支是Glock19。）

I USE the words “moved to love” in an effort to define the significant, important territory between “born this way” and choice. That solid ground covers “built this way,” “oriented this way,” and “evolved this way”; it incorporates the possibility of a potent biological predisposition mingling with other factors beyond anyone’s ready control; and it probably applies to Nixon herself. In a Daily Beast interview after the Times article appeared, she clarified that she has experienced an unforced, undeniable attraction to individuals of both sexes. In other words, she’s bisexual, not whimsical. She just happens not to like that term, she said.
我之所以用“打动了你的爱人”这几个字眼，是为了试着定义“生来如此”和“选择”这两个极端之间的意味深长的重要领域。这一领域涵盖了“建构如此”、“朝向如此”和“渐成如此”的含义；它整合了一种混合着有效的生物倾向和其他并不可控的因素的可能性。或许这才适合尼克松（Nixon）她自己。在《时报》那篇文章之后，尼克松在一次《每日野兽》（Daily Beast）的访谈中澄清道，对男女两个性别的人，她都有过自然而然、不可否认地受到吸引的经历。换句话说，她是双性恋，而不是水性杨花反复无常。她说她只是不太喜欢双性恋这个词。

In any case, concentrating on how she ended up like that misses the point.
无论如何，将注意力集中在她是如何以“是双性恋”结题的，就偏离了重点。

“Most people’s sexual attractions are pretty much fixed” once they take root, said Jack Drescher, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who has written extensively about homosexuality. In light of both that and the unanswered questions about what fixes them, there’s more wisdom and less harm in accepting and respecting homosexuality than not.
一个曾经写过很多同性恋方面文章的精神病学家和精神分析学家杰克·德雷舍尔（Jack Drescher）说，一旦性吸引力确定下来，“大多数人的这种吸引力是相当稳定的”。鉴于这两者——性倾向的稳定以及对其如何稳定仍然未知，那么相比较于排斥和歧视同性恋者，接受和尊重同性恋是更明智而无害的。

We don’t need to be born this way to refute the ludicrous assertion that homosexuality poses some special threat to the stability of the American family. We need only note that heterosexuality — as practiced by the likes of Newt Gingrich and John Edwards, for example — isn’t any lucky charm, and yet no one’s trying to heal the straights.
我们不必以“生来如此”的姿态去反驳那种认为同性恋会对美国家庭的稳定造成威胁的荒谬论断。我们只需要注意到，像纽特·金里奇（Newt Gingrich）和约翰·爱德华兹（John Edwards） 这类异性恋者也不会给人们带来任何好运，但没人会傻到尝试去治疗这些直人。（注：纽特·金里奇（Newt Gingrich）和约翰·爱德华兹（John Edwards）都是美国不受欢迎的政客。）

We don’t need to be born this way to call out Chris Christie, currently trying to avoid responsibility for a decision about same-sex marriage in New Jersey, for being a political wimp. Andrew Cuomo showed courage and foresight in fighting successfully for such legislation in New York. Christie, who fancies himself a dauntless brawler, should do the same in the state next door.
我们也不必以“生来如此”的姿态去动员克里斯·克里斯蒂（Chris Christie，新泽西州州长）这种试图逃避自己在新泽西州有关同性婚姻的决议中的责任的政治懦夫。安德鲁·科莫（Andrew Cuomo，纽约州州长)在纽约成功地争取到同样的立法，显现出了他的勇气和远见。一向以无畏的斗士自称的克里斯蒂就在纽约州隔壁，恐怕也该有同样的作为。

I honestly have no idea if I was born this way. My memory doesn’t stretch to the crib.
坦白说，我不知道我是不是“生来如此”。我的记忆无法触及我的摇篮时光。

But I know that from the moment I felt romantic stirrings, it was Timmy, not Tammy, who could have me walking on air or wallowing in torch songs and tubs of ice cream. These feelings gelled early, and my considerable fear of society’s censure was no match for them.
但是，在我情窦初开时，是蒂米（Timmy，男孩名），而不是塔米（Tammy，女孩名）能让时而兴高采烈、时而郁郁寡欢、时而甘之如饴。这些感觉早已永驻心田，对于社会责难的巨大恐惧都无法与之匹敌。

I know that being in a same-sex relationship feels as central and natural to me as my loyalty to my father, my pride in my siblings’ accomplishments and my protectiveness of their children — all emotions that I didn’t exit the womb with but will not soon shake.
我知道处于同性的情感关系之中，对我而言如此重要和自然，就像我对父亲的忠诚，对兄弟姐妹成就的自豪感和对他们的孩子的保护之心一样。所有这些情感都不是与生俱来的，却很难动摇。

And I know that I’m a saner, kinder person this way than trapped in a contrivance or a lie. Surely that’s not just to my advantage but to society’s, too.
我还知道，相比那些被计谋骗术或谎言所困的人，我这样更健全，也更好。毫无疑问，那不只有利于我，也有利于社会。