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美国“同志与拉拉权利”的斗士
美国同性性取向的男性和女性的处境如果不是更糟的话，也与德国的处境相同。通过无数的个人数十年的斗争之后，他们才能够获得性少数的地位。其中重要的先驱如上图。
从左自右：①亨利·戈博
(Henry Gerber，1892-1972),
生于巴伐利亚[1]，第一次世界大战前移民美国。受到自马格纳斯·赫希菲尔德在德国的同性恋运动的启发后，他于1924年在芝加哥创建了美国第一个”同志权利“组织——人权协会(
the Society for Human Rights)。该协会出版了时事通讯《友谊与自由》(Friendship
and Freedom)，但是，翌年就被当局关闭。②海瑞·海
(Harry Hay，1912-2002)，英裔美国人，激进主义人士，与朋友一起创建了迈特什基金会(Mattachine
Foundation)，随后于1950年在洛杉矶创建了马特蕊协会(Mattachine
Society)，后者是美国更为成功的“同志权利”组织。“马特蕊”这个名字取自法国中世纪的一个舞剧团，该剧团的舞蹈演员带着面具表演。1953年，该组织开始出版《单一性杂志》(One
Magazine)和在1955年出版《马特蕊评论》(the
Mattachine Review.)。③菲利斯·里昂
(Phyllis Lyon，1924-) 和④黛尔·马丁
(Del Martin，1921-)，定居于旧金山，于1955年创建了美国第一个女同性恋者组织“比利蒂斯传承者”(The
Daughters of Bilitis)。翌年，该组织发行自己的杂志《抽丝》(The
Ladder)[2]。“比利蒂斯”这个名称取自法国作家皮埃尔·鲁易(Pierre Louys)的作品《比利蒂斯之歌》(The
Songs of Bilitis，1894)，为鲁易想象性地从古希腊女诗人和社会抗争者莎孚的歌曲联唱曲目翻译而成。
因为美国的鸡奸法律，美国的同性性取向的男性从未享受过平等的权利。此外，同性性取向的男性和女性被精神病学家认为患有精神病，而且被宗教主教谴责为罪人。但是，尽管有这三重的阻碍因素，少数人、随后的许多人的不屈不饶的奋斗最终成功地组织起“同志与拉拉团体（gay
and lesbian community）”，作为受压迫的性少数赢得了人们的承认。[“Gay”这个词语——一个欢快、令人陶醉或华美的、在20世纪逐渐获得“同性性取向”含义的美国俚语。“lesbian”这个词语是指莱斯博斯岛（Lesbos），古希腊女诗人莎孚（Sappho，公元前7世纪，生平不详）的家乡，她曾经给她的女学生写过许多情诗[3]
]。
美国的“同志权利”斗争在世界其它许多国家激起了类似的运动。其中一些运动采纳了同样的宣传口号和政治策略，至少达到了运动的一些目标，而且少数运动甚至比美国模式的运动更为成功。最终，于1973年，美国精神病协会修改了自己的诊断手册，并从疾病目录里删除了同性恋病名，而且美国最高法院于2003年裁决鸡奸法律违反宪法。同时，多名基督教与犹太教主教也已经接纳男同性恋者和女同性恋者为其宗教团体的正式成员。不过。即使在今天，争取性少数权利的诉求并未全部得到满足，同性性取向的总体景观仍旧充满着斑驳点点的污垢。在一些美国的大城市，大多数从前的社会歧视已经烟消云散，但是在这个国家的大多数地区，社会歧视仍旧阴霾不散。
[1]. 位于德国南部，昔时为一独立王国。——译者注。
[2]. The
Ladder在《中国性科学百科全书》(1998)译为《阶梯》，可是ladder也有“抽丝，尤指长筒袜的抽丝”的含义，因此，创办者使用该词，初衷更可能指的是与女性有关的物品。——译者注。
.
“Gay”在传统字典里被翻译为同性恋者，尤指男同性恋者；“lesbian”则被翻译成女同性恋者。按照华人“圈内人”自己的习惯称呼，前者一般翻译为“同志”，后者一般译为“拉拉”。除非有必要，本教程一般不使用后一种翻译。——译者注。
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Fighters for
"Gay and Lesbian Rights" in the USA
The situation of American homosexual males and females was just as bad, if not worse, than that of their German counterparts. They were able to achieve minority status only after many decades of struggle by countless individuals. Some important pioneers are shown here.
From the left: 1. Henry Gerber (1892-1972), born in Bavaria, immigrated to the US before WW I. Inspired by Magnus Hirschfeld’s attempts in Germany, he founded the first American “gay rights” organization in 1924 in Chicago - the Society for Human Rights. It published a newsletter Friendship and Freedom, but was closed down by the authorities the following year. 2. Harry Hay (1912-2002), a British-born American activist, together with some friends, founded the Mattachine Foundation, later Mattachine Society in Los Angeles in 1950, the second, more successful “gay rights” organization in the United States. The name “Mattachine” referred to a troupe of French medieval dancers who performed with masks over their faces. In 1953, the organization began to publish One Magazine and in 1955 the Mattachine Review. 3. Phyllis Lyon (b. 1924) and Del Martin (b. 1921), living in San Francisco, founded the first lesbian organization in the US - The Daughters of Bilitis in 1955. In the following year, the organization started its own journal – The Ladder. The name “Bilitis” was taken from a work by the French author Pierre Louys, The Songs of Bilitis (1894) supposedly translated from a song cycle by an ancient Greek poetess and rival of Sappho.
Homosexual males had never enjoyed equal rights in the US because of the American “sodomy laws”. In addition, both male and homosexual females were considered mentally ill by psychiatrists, and the religious leaders condemned them as sinners. However, in spite of this triple handicap, the tireless work of a few and later many individuals eventually succeeded in organizing a “gay and lesbian community” that won recognition as an oppressed minority. (The word “gay” - merry, happy or colorful - gradually acquired the additional meaning of “homosexual” in 20th century American slang. The word “lesbian” refers to the island of Lesbos, home of the ancient Greek poetess Sappho who wrote love poems to her female students.)
The American “gay rights”
struggle inspired similar movements in many other countries. Adopting the same slogans and political tactics, some of these movements achieved at least some of their goals and, in a few cases, were even more successful than their American models. Finally, in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association revised its diagnostic handbook and removed homosexuality from its list of diseases, and in 2003 the US Supreme Court ruled that the sodomy laws were unconstitutional. In the meantime, several Christian and Jewish religious leaders had also begun to accept gays and lesbians as full members of their communities. Nevertheless, even today not all demands for equal rights have been met, and the general picture remains spotty: In some large American cities, most of the former social discrimination has disappeared, but it persists in large parts of the country.
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