And they went on and on,
他们滔滔不绝地说着，
and the soldier watched,
而那名士兵看着他们，
and then he sat there for a full minute
知道他们说完了之后，
after they were finished
他坐在那里待了整整一分钟，
and looked at us so bedraggled in the rain,
看着我们这群落汤鸡，
and said, "What you have said is true,
然后说，“你们说的是事实，
and we must bow to the will of the people.
而我们必须听从民意。
If you'll clear enough space for us to turn around,
如果你们让出足够的位置让我们掉头，
we'll go back the way we came."
我们会原路返回。”
And that's what they did.
而他们果真这样做了。
Sometimes, forging meaning
有时，铸造意义
can give you the vocabulary you need
能给你所需要的辞藻
to fight for your ultimate freedom.
来争取你最终的自由。
Russia awakened me to the lemonade notion
俄罗斯让我意识到逆境求生的概念：
that oppression breeds the power to oppose it,
剥削会繁衍抵抗剥削的力量，
and I gradually understood that as the cornerstone
而我逐渐明白了这是
of identity.
身份的基石。
It took identity to rescue me from sadness.
身份从伤痛中拯救了我。
The gay rights movement posits a world
同性恋权利运动憧憬一个
in which my aberrances are a victory.
我的畸形是一种胜利。
Identity politics always works on two fronts:
身份的政治总是从两方面出发：
to give pride to people who have a given condition
给有特殊情况或特征的人
or characteristic, and to cause the outside world
应有的自豪；和让外在的世界
to treat such people more gently and more kindly.
温柔地善待这些人。
Those are two totally separate enterprises,
这是两种不同的途径，
but progress in each sphere
但不管哪个方面的进展
reverberates in the other.
都会在另一方面造成回响。
Identity politics can be narcissistic.
身份的政治可以变成自恋的。
People extol a difference only because it's theirs.
人们称赞不同只是应为那是他们自身的。
People narrow the world and function
人们把世界窄化，
in discrete groups without empathy for one another.
形成个体，对他人毫无同情。
But properly understood
但如果它得以正确的理解
and wisely practiced,
和理智的运用，
identity politics should expand
身份的政治应该
our idea of what it is to be human.
扩充我们对人性的概念。
Identity itself
身份自身
should be not a smug label
不应是让人自满的标签
or a gold medal
或是一枚金牌
but a revolution.
但应是一个革命。
I would have had an easier life if I were straight,
如果我是异性恋，我的生活会轻松很多，
but I would not be me,
但我不会是我，
and I now like being myself better
我现在比较喜欢做我自己
than the idea of being someone else,
而不想成为另一个人，
someone who, to be honest,
说实话，
I have neither the option of being
我无法成为,
nor the ability fully to imagine.
也无法想象其他人。
