2. A Case of Gender Blues
After a lifetime of agonizing over his gender identity, Steven Stanton decided to become a woman about two years ago. "It wasn’t something I wanted to do,” says Stanton, 48, the city manager of Largo, Fla. "It was something I had to do.” He started hormonal therapy ,gradually shedding body hair and losing muscle mass. He began to feel breast pain when he went jogging—a problem he remedied by following a doctor’s recommendation to wear a sports bra. On trips away from home, he began venturing out dressed as a woman. Although he confided all this to his wife and a small circle of friends, he knew that one day he’d have to tell the townspeople he served. So he prepared meticulously for that moment—aiming for May, when his 13-year-old son would be away—and created a detailed eight-page plan. "When you tell somebody this, it’s devastating," he says. "It is like an element of betrayal."

Stanton’s plan foundered two weeks ago when the St. Petersburg Times published an article about his plans for a sex change. In the ensuing upheaval, church leaders condemned him and angry residents demanded his ouster. At a tumultuous meeting last Tuesday, city commissioners voted 5-2 to begin the process of firing Stanton, who has received mostly solid reviews in 14 years as city manager. "I do not feel he has the integrity, nor the trust, nor the respect, nor the confidence to continue," said Commissioner Mary Gray Black. Now on paid administrative leave, Stanton has until Tuesday to decide whether to appeal. Civil rights and transgender groups have rushed to his defense. "It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that degree of just flagrant discrimination," says Karen Doering, senior counsel for the National Center for Lesbian Rights and now Stanton’s lawyer.

Stanton has struggled with his identity since he was a child. He used to try on his sister’s dresses and continued accumulating women’s clothes over the years. When he married in 1990, he hoped to stifle his yearnings and eventually tried counseling. But "you go and try to get fixed," he said at last week’s commission meeting, "and you learn you can’t get fixed." In 2003, while city leaders were debating a human-rights ordinance that would protect transsexuals, the then Commissioner Pat Burke criticized Stanton for not lobbying hard enough for the measure (it didn’t end up passing, but the town did adopt an internal policy barring discrimination on the basis of gender identity). Stanton, who was possibly wary of accusations of favoritism, responded by confiding his secret to Burke. when he showed her photos of himself in drag, she laughed affectionately and offered him fashion tips. "It was a light dress, and it didn’t work.” she says.

Stanton’s case comes at a time when the transgender community is gaining acceptance. There’s "a growing trend among mental-health professionals to get the social environment to adapt to the person rather than force the person to conform to gender stereotypes," says psychiatrist Jack Drescher. Federal civil-rights law offers no explicit protection for transgender workers, but eight states (not including Florida) and the District of Columbia do. In the corporate world, 122 of the Fortune 500 companies now have no discrimination policies that include gender identity, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Yet Stanton’s experience shows the limits of such acceptance. The Largo city commission could vote to finalize his firing as early as Tuesday. Stanton, who initially refused to take legal action, is now contemplating it. "I never anticipated so many people calling up from the community saying, `Please, promise me that you’ll fight this’." As Stanton told his son, "Being courageous is being willing to stand when others are willing to sit" After years of battling himself, perhaps he’s ready to take on a broaden struggle.

词汇注解

重点单词

agonize /’ ?g?naiz/

【文中释义】v.挣扎

【大纲全文】v.(使)极度痛苦，折磨 ，挣扎

shed /?ed /

【文中释义】v. 脱落

【大纲全文】v.流出;散发，散发 ，脱落，脱去

n.棚屋， 小屋

remedy /’remidi /

【文中释义】vi. 治疗

【大纲全文】n药品;治疗措施;补救方法;纠正方法;消除方法;补尝,赔偿，法律补救方法

v.治疗，医治;纠正，补救

betrayal /bi’trei?l /

【文中释义】n.辜负，出卖

【大纲全文】n背叛，暴露

condemn/k?n’dem/

【文中释义】v.谴责

【大纲全文】v.谴责，指责;判刑，宣告有罪

integrity/in’tegriti/

【文中释义】n.正直，诚实

【大纲全文】n.正直，诚实;完整，完全

administrative / ad’ministr?tiv/

【文中释义】adj行政的，

【大纲全文】adj.行政的,管理的

defense /di’fens/

【文中释义】 n.挥卫，辫护

【大纲全义】n.防卫，防卫物

acceptance /?k’sept?ns/

【文中释义】n.认可，接受

【大纲全义】n.接受，接收，验收，接纳;承认

认可;认可，欢迎

explicit /iks’plisit/

【文中释义】adj显然的，明确的

【大纲全义】adj.详述的，明确的;坦率的;

显然的

contemplate /’k?ntempleit/

【文中释义】vt.打算

【大纲全义】v.注视，沉思，打算

超纲单词

hormonal adj.时荷尔蒙的，激素的 confide v.吐露，信托，信赖

townspeople n.市民，镇民 upheaval n.举起，隆起，大变动

tumultuous adj.乱哄哄的，喧哗的 finalize v.使结束，使完结

flagrant adj非常的，不能容忍的

重点段落译文

在经过对自己性别特性一生的痛苦挣扎后，现年48岁的佛罗里达州拉哥市执行长斯蒂芬·士丹顿在大约两年前决定变成一名女性。他说：“我也不想这么做，但我不得不这么做。”然后，他开始接受激素治疗，身上的体毛逐渐脱落，成块的肌肉也逐渐消失。当他慢跑时开始感到胸部疼痛—他听从了医生的建议，穿上了运动文胸，这个问题才得以解决。出门在外时，他开始尝试穿成女性的样子。尽管他把这一切告诉了妻子和一小部分朋友，但是他知道终有一天他不得不把这些告诉他所服务的市民。于是他为这一刻做了精心准备—时间选在5月份，他13岁的儿子恰好不在—制作了一份长达8页的详细计划。“告诉别人这些是会产生相当大的反响的，”他说：“这有些像某种程度的背叛。”

两周前，当《圣彼得堡时报》发表了一篇关于士丹顿变性计划的文章时，他的计划失败了。在接下来的事情变化中，教堂领导人谴责他，愤怒的居民也要求将他驱逐出境。在上周二乱哄哄的会议上，城市委员会成员以5比2的选票表决决定解雇士丹顿，尽管他在担任市执行长的连续14年间受到了很多好评。委员会成员玛丽·格利·布莱克说:“我认为他没有诚实，不可信，没有受人尊敬的品格，也没有继续留任的信心。”虽然面临着行政职务被解雇的处罚，但是士丹顿直到周二才决定是否要上诉。而民权和跨性别团体都去为他辩护。同性恋权益中心的高级辩护律师、士丹顿现在的律师凯伦。多林说:“很久以前我就注意到了这种不能容忍的歧视。”

士丹顿变性事件正好发生在变性团体逐步得到人们认可的时期。精神病医师杰克·德雷舍说:“心理健康专业人士越来越倾向于想让社会适应像士丹顿这样的人，而不是强迫他们去遵从原本固有性别。”虽然联邦民权法律没有为变性人提供明确的保护，但是有8个州(不包括佛罗里达)和哥伦比亚地区却提供了该项保护。根据人权运动，企业界中的财富500强中，有122家现今没有包括性别在内的歧视政策。

然而士丹顿的变性事件披露了社会对变性认同的局限性.拉哥市委员会最早可以在周二通过选举来决定士丹顿的去留。最初不愿采取法律措施的士丹顿如今正在考虑阶段。“我没料到团体里会有这么多人打电话给我‘请答应我你要继续战斗下去’。”正如士丹顿对儿子所说的那样:“勇敢就是当其他人想坐着的时候而你愿意站着。”经过几年的自我斗争，也许士丹顿已经决定进行一场更广泛的斗争。

From Newsweek

By Jane Bryant Quinn

Dec.4, 2006