(Music)

好，咱們開始吧。

(Singing) It's OK to be gay.

（音樂）

We are different in many ways.

（唱歌）身為同性戀沒有關係，

Doesn't matter if you're a boy, girl or somewhere in between,

我們在許多方面都有所不同。

we all are part of one big family.

不論你是男孩、女孩， 或兩者之間，都無所謂，

Gay means "happy."

我們都是大家庭的一份子。

Queer Kid Stuff.

Gay（同性戀）也代表「快樂」。

You are enough

《酷兒孩子網路劇》。

here at Queer Kid Stuff.

在《酷兒孩子網路劇》，

(Applause)

你很夠格了。

Opening a performance with lyrics like "It's OK to be gay"

（掌聲）

for a roomful of adults is one thing,

在一間滿是成人的房間中表演，

but it's entirely different for a roomful of kindergartners.

以「身為同性戀沒有關係」的 歌詞開場是一回事；

What you've just heard is the theme song for my web series "Queer Kid Stuff,"

但在滿是幼稚園小朋友的房間中 又完全是另一回事了。

where I make LGBTQ+ and social justice videos for all ages.

你們剛剛聽到的是我的 《酷兒孩子網路劇》的主題曲，

And when I say all ages, I mean literal babies

這個網路劇是我針對各年齡層 製作的 LGBTQ+ 及社會正義影片。

to your great-great-grandma.

我說的各年齡層，真的是從嬰兒

Now, I know what you're thinking:

一直到曾曾祖母。

"Whoa, they're talking about gay stuff with kids."

我知道你們在想什麼：

But talking to kids about gay stuff is actually crucial.

「哇，他們在跟孩子 談同性戀的題材。」

The American Academy of Pediatrics has found

但，跟孩子談同性戀的 題材其實很重要。

that children have a solid understanding of their gender identity

美國兒科學會發現，

by the age of four.

孩子在四歲時就會清楚了解

This is when children are developing their sense of self.

自己的性別認同。

They're observing the world around them,

這個時期就是孩子 發展出自我感的時期。

absorbing that information

他們會觀察周遭的世界，

and internalizing it.

吸收那些資訊，

Now, most parents want their children to become kind, empathetic,

並將之內化。

self-confident adults,

大部分的父母都希望 自己的孩子長大成人後

and exposure to diversity is an important part

能變得仁慈、有同理心、自信，

of that social and emotional development.

而接觸多樣性對其社會發展

And -- gender nonconforming kids

和情緒發展而言十分重要。

and trans kids and kids with trans and nonbinary and queer parents

而且非常規性別的 孩子、變性的孩子，

are everywhere.

以及父母是變性、 非二元、酷兒的孩子

In the series, my stuffed bear cohost and I talk about the LGBT community,

比比皆是。

activism, gender and pronouns,

在劇中，我的填充熊搭擋 和我會談論 LGBT 族群、

consent and body positivity.

LGBT 行動主義、性別以及代名詞、

We tackle these topics through songs,

同意和身體自愛。

not unlike the one you just heard,

我們透過歌曲來處理這些主題，

simple definitions and metaphors.

就像你們剛才聽到的那首歌，

We approach these ideas, to steal a phrase from an old professor of mine,

有簡單的定義和比喻。

from "under the doorknob" --

我們處理這些想法的方式， 可借用我的一位老教授的說法，

getting down to toddler height

來自《門把之下》——

and looking up at the great big world through their tiny little eyes,

降到學步兒童的身高，

taking these seemingly complex ideas and simplifying them --

透過他們小小的眼睛， 向上看向廣大的世界，

not dumbing them down,

簡化這些看似複雜的想法——

but homing in on the core concept.

不是變通俗，

Gender is about how we feel and how we express ourselves.

而是瞄準核心概念。

Sexuality is about love and gender and family,

性別的重點是我們對自己的 感受和如何表現自己。

not about sex.

性向的重點則是愛、性別和家庭，

And these are all ideas children can grasp.

而不是性愛。

In one of my earliest episodes about gender,

這些都是孩子能夠理解的想法。

I used the idea of pronouns

在我最早期針對性別 所製做的其中一集裡，

to underscore the definition and introduce gender-neutral pronouns

我用到了代名詞的想法，

like "they" and "them."

來強調定義， 並介紹中性的代名詞，

I encourage children to think about their own pronouns

如「他們」（英文不分性別）。

and to ask others for theirs.

我鼓勵孩子們去想想 他們自己的代名詞，

In later episodes, I build on this foundation

並問問其他人的代名詞。

and introduce big fancy words like "nonbinary" and "transgender."

後來的幾集就是 繼續發展這個基礎，

I get emails from viewers in their 20s

並介紹很炫的字詞， 像是「非二元」及「變性」。

who use my videos to explain nonbinary gender to their grandparents.

有些二十多歲的觀眾寫信給我，

But, I get one comment over and over again:

他們用我的影片來向他們的 祖父母解釋非二元性別。

"Let kids be kids."

但，我總是不斷得到這種意見：

Well, that's a nice sentiment and all,

「讓孩子當孩子吧。」

but only if it actually includes all kids.

那個觀點很好，

Just a few weeks ago,

但前提是它指的是所有的孩子。

a 15-year-old in Huntsville, Alabama

就在幾個星期之前，

died by suicide after being bullied for being gay.

阿拉巴馬州亨茨維爾的十五歲孩子

In 2018, it was a seven-year-old

因為身為同性戀 被霸凌而輕生自殺。

in Denver, Colorado.

2018 年，同樣的事發生在

There have been and will be many more.

科羅拉多州丹佛的七歲孩子身上。

Lesbian, gay and bisexual teens

有很多這樣的孩子， 將來還會有更多。

are more than three times more likely to attempt suicide

女、男同性戀及雙性戀的 青少年自殺的機率

than their heterosexual peers,

比同儕的異性戀青少年

and transgender teens are almost six times more likely.

要高三倍以上，

According to one study, roughly one third of homeless youth

而變性的青少年自殺率 幾乎要高達六倍。

identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning,

根據一項研究，無家可歸的 青年當中，大約有三分之一

and about four percent of homeless youth identify as transgender,

是女、男同性戀、 雙性戀或性別存疑，

compared with one percent of the general youth population surveyed.

大約 4% 是變性人，

According to the Human Rights Campaign,

相較之下，被調查的對象中 一般青年人口只佔 1%。

there have been 128 killings of trans people

根據人權戰線（組織）的資料，

in 87 cities across 32 states

2013 年起，

since 2013.

在 32 州的 87 個城市中，

And those are the only the reported cases.

共有 128 名變性人遭殺害。

And 80 percent of those killings were of trans women of color.

那些還只是有被舉報的案例。

The queer situation is bleak,

那些殺人案中，有八成受害者 是有色人種的變性女子。

to say the least.

酷兒的情況很淒涼，

The YouTube comments on my videos

甚至更糟。

are not much better.

在 YouTube 上大家針對 我的影片留言的意見

I'm used to the harassment.

也好不到哪裡去。

I get messages daily telling me I'm a pedophile

我很習慣被騷擾了。

and that I should kill myself in a number of increasingly creative ways.

每天我都會收到 罵我戀童癖的訊息，

I once had to put the word "truck" on my block list

說我應該自殺，還幫我 想了很多有創意的死法。

because someone wanted me to get run over by a truck.

我還曾經把「卡車」一詞 放到我的阻擋清單中，

"Shower" and "oven" are in there, too,

因為有人希望我被卡車撞死。

for the less creative and more disturbing Holocaust reference.

「淋浴」和「烤箱」 也都上了名單，

When neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville,

在比較沒創意、比較擾人的 大屠殺訊息中會出現這些詞。

I was unsurprised to learn

當新納粹主義者行經夏律第鎮，

that the creator of a violent Reddit meme about one of my episodes

並不意外，我得知

was in the tiki torch crowd.

從著我的網路劇而來的暴力 Reddit（網站）迷因的創作者

This barrage of negativity is what we're up against:

也在拿著夏威夷 提基火把的群眾裡面。

the crushing statistics, the violence, the mental health risks,

這種負面的猛烈攻擊， 就是我們要對抗的：

the well-meaning but flawed response my parents gave me when I came out,

壓倒性的統計數字、 暴力、心理健康風險、

that they didn't want me to have a harder life.

我出櫃時我父母出於好意 給我的不理想回應，

That's what we're up against.

他們說，不希望 我過比較辛苦的人生。

But in the face of all that,

那些就是我們在對抗的。

I choose joy.

但，在面對這一切時，

I choose rainbows and unicorns and glitter,

我選擇喜悅。

and I sing that it's OK to be gay with my childhood stuffed teddy bear.

我選擇彩虹、獨角獸、閃閃發光，

I make queer media for kids

我和兒時的泰迪填充熊一起 唱出「身為同性戀沒有關係」。

because I wish I had this when I was their age.

我為孩子做酷兒媒體，

I make it so others don't have to struggle through what I did,

因為我多希望自己 在那個年紀時有這些東西。

not understanding my identity

我製作這些，讓其他人不用 再經歷我所經歷過的掙扎，

because I didn't have any exposure to who I could be.

我當年不了解我的性別認同，

I teach and spread this message through joy and positivity

因為我不知道我能夠 成為什麼樣的人。

instead of framing it around the hardships of queer life.

我選擇教導、散播這個訊息的 方式，是透過喜悅和正面態度，

I want kids to grow up and into themselves

而不是把話題一直繞著 酷兒生活有多苦打轉。

with pride for who they are and who they can be,

我希望孩子長大後能做他們自己，

no matter who they love or what they wear or what pronouns they use.

對自己是什麼人、 能夠成為什麼人感到驕傲。

And I want them to love others for their differences,

不論他們愛誰、穿什麼 或使用什麼代名詞。

not in spite of them.

我希望人們能因 別人的差異而愛他們，

I think fostering this pride and empathy

而不是儘管有差異仍然愛他們。

will make the world a kinder and more equal place

我認為培養這種自尊心和同理心

and combat the bigotry and hate that festers in our world.

能夠讓世界變得更仁慈、更平等，

So, talk to a kid about gender.

並對抗那些讓世界 惡化的盲從和仇恨。

Talk to a kid about sexuality.

所以，和孩子談談性別，

Teach them about consent.

和孩子談談性向，

Tell them it is OK for boys to wear dresses

教導他們同意。

and for girls to speak up.

告訴他們，男孩穿洋裝、

Let's spread radical queer joy.

女孩大聲說話，都沒有關係。

Thank you.

讓我們來散播基本的酷兒喜悅。

(Applause)

謝謝。