I was an eight-year-old kid in the mid-1990s. I grew up in southern Philippines.
90年代中期时，我才8岁，在菲律宾南部长大。
At that age, you're young enough to be oblivious about what society expects from each of us
在那个年纪，你稚嫩得难以察觉社会对于每个人的期望，
but old enough to be aware of what's going on around you.
但也已懂事到能知晓周围发生的一切。
We lived in a one-bedroom house, all five of us.
我们一家五口都住在只有一间卧室的房子里。
Our house was amongst clusters of houses made mostly of wood and corrugated metal sheets.
我们的房子夹在一群主要由木头和瓦楞金属板建成的房子中间。
These houses were built very close to each other along unpaved roads.
这些房子沿着未铺砌的土路建造，一座紧挨着一座。
There was little to no expectation of privacy.
几乎没有任何隐私。
Whenever an argument broke out next door, you heard it all.
每当隔壁发生争吵时，你都能听得一清二楚。
Or, if there was a little ... something something going on -- you would probably hear that, too.
或者，如果有人在做这样那样的事情...你大概也能听见。
Like any other kid, I learned what a family looked like.
像其他孩子一样，我了解了一个家庭是什么样的。
It was a man, a woman, plus a child or children.
它由一个男人，一个女人，外加上一个或一群孩子组成。
But I also learned it wasn't always that way. There were other combinations that worked just as well.
但我也学到了，事实并非总是如此。还有其他的家庭组合也同样有效。
There was this family of three who lived down the street.
有一个三口之家就住在我们这条街上。
The lady of the house was called Lenie. Lenie had long black hair, often in a ponytail, and manicured nails.
这家的女主人名叫蕾妮。蕾妮有一头长长的黑发，通常扎着马尾，指甲修剪得整整齐齐。
She always went out with a little makeup on and her signature red lipstick.
她出门的时候总是化着淡妆，涂着标志性的口红。
Lenie's other half, I don't remember much about him
蕾妮的另一半，我不太记得他了，
except that he had a thing for white sleeveless shirts and gold chains around his neck.
只记得他热衷穿白色无袖衬衫，脖子上戴着金链子。
Their daughter was a couple years younger than me.
他们的女儿比我小几岁。
Now, everybody in the village knew Lenie. She owned and ran what was the most popular beauty salon in our side of town.
村子里的每个人都认识蕾妮。她拥有并经营着我们这边最受欢迎的美容院。
Every time their family would walk down the roads,
每次他们一家人走在路上，
they would always be greeted with smiles and occasionally stopped for a little chitchat.
人们总会对他们抱以微笑，偶尔还会停下来聊聊天。
Now, the interesting thing about Lenie is that she also happened to be a transgender woman.
蕾妮有意思的地方在于，她是一位变性女人。
She exemplified one of the Philippines' long-standing stories about gender diversity.
她是菲律宾历史悠久的性别多元化故事的一个例证。
Lenie was proof that oftentimes we think of something as strange only because we're not familiar with it,
蕾妮证明了，往往我们觉得某件事物古怪，只是因为我们对其不熟悉，
or we haven't taken enough time to try and understand.
或者没有花足够的时间尝试去理解。
In most cultures around the world, gender is this man-woman dichotomy.
在世界上大多数文化中，性别是男女的二元划分。
It's this immovable, nonnegotiable, distinct classes of individuals.
是无法改变、毋容置疑、泾渭分明的两组个体。
We assign characteristics and expectations the moment a person's biological sex is determined.
在一个人的生物性别确定的那一刻，我们便对其赋予了特质与期望。
But not all cultures are like that. Not all cultures are as rigid.
但并非所有的文化都是如此。并不是所有的文化都这么死板。
Many cultures don't look at genitalia primarily as basis for gender construction,
很多文化并不将生殖器作为性别建构的主要基础。
and some communities in North America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Pacific Islands, including the Philippines,
在北美、非洲、印度次大陆、太平洋诸岛，包括菲律宾的一些社区，
have a long history of cultural permissiveness and accommodation of gender variances.
有着对文化宽容、对性别差异适应的悠久历史。
As you may know, the people of the Philippines were under Spanish rule for over 300 years. That's from 1565 to 1898.
各位或许知道，菲律宾人民被西班牙统治了300多年。那是在1565年到1898年之间。
This explains why everyday Filipino conversations are peppered with Spanish words
这就解释了为什么菲律宾的日常对话会夹杂着西班牙语，
and why so many of our last names, including mine, sound very Spanish.
为什么我们的这么多姓氏，包括我的，听起来很像西班牙语。
This also explains the firmly entrenched influence of Catholicism.
这也解释了根深蒂固的天主教影响。
But precolonial Philippine societies, they were mostly animists.
但是前殖民社会的菲律宾社会，大多数人都是万物有灵论者。
They believed all things had a distinct spiritual essence: plants, animals, rocks, rivers, places.
他们相信一切事物有着独特的精神本质：植物，动物，岩石，河流，地点。
Power resided in the spirit. Whoever was able to harness that spiritual power was highly revered.
力量存在于精神之中，能够驾驭这种精神力量的人会备受尊崇。
Now, scholars who have studied the Spanish colonial archives also tell us that these early societies were largely egalitarian.
研究西班牙殖民档案的学者也告诉我们，这些早期社会大体上是平等的。
Men did not necessarily have an advantage over women. Wives were treated as companions, not slaves.
男人不一定比女人有优势。妻子被视作同伴，而不是奴隶。
And family contracts were not done without their presence and approval. In some ways, women had the upper hand.
家庭合同的生效必须要有她们在场并批准。在某些方面，女性占了上风。
A woman could divorce her husband and own property under her own name, which she kept even after marriage.
一个女人可以和丈夫离婚，拥有自己名下的财产，甚至在婚后仍能保留。
She had the prerogative to have a baby or not and then decide the baby's name.
她有决定是否生孩子、并为孩子命名的特权。
But the real key to the power of the precolonial Filipino woman was in her role as "babaylan,"
但前殖民社会的菲律宾女人拥有权力的关键在于她担任的“巴巴伊兰”一职，
a collective term for shamans of various ethnic groups.
这是不同民族对萨满的统称。
They were the community healers, specialists in herbal and divine lore.
她们是社区医师，是草药和传说的专家。
They delivered babies and communicated with the spirit world.
她们接生婴儿，与灵界沟通。
They performed exorcisms and occasionally, and in defense of their community, they kicked some ass.
她们进行驱魔仪式，偶尔，为了保护她们的社区，她们还能暴打犯事者。
And while the babaylan was a female role, there were also, in fact, male practitioners in the spiritual realm.
虽说巴巴伊兰是女性的职责，事实上，在精神领域也有男性从业者。

Reports from early Spanish chroniclers contain several references to male shamans
西班牙早期编年史作家的记载中有几处提到了男性萨满，
who did not conform to normative Western masculine standards.
他们是不符合西方男性标准的。
They cross-dressed and appeared effeminate or sexually ambiguous.
他们穿着女装，看上去偏女性化或中性化。
A Jesuit missionary named Francisco Alcina said that one man he believed to be a shaman
一位名叫弗朗西斯科·阿尔西纳的耶稣会传教士说，一位他认为是萨满的男性，
was "so effeminate that in every way he was more a woman than a man.
“如此女性化，以至于在所有方面，他都更像女人，而非男人。
All the things the women did he performed, such as weaving blankets, sewing clothes and making pots.
女人做的所有事情他都会做，比如编织毯子、缝衣服和制作陶艺。
He danced also like they did, never like a man, whose dance is different. In all, he appeared more a woman than a man."
男女的舞蹈不同，他也和她们跳同样的舞，从来不跳男人的舞蹈。总之，他表现得更像女人，而不是男人。”
Well, any other juicy details in the colonial archives? Thought you'd never ask.
在殖民地档案里还有什么更劲爆的细节吗？还以为你们不会问呢。
As you may have deduced by now, the manner in which these precolonial societies conducted themselves didn't go over so well.
你们现在或许已经推断出了，这些前殖民社会的行为方式不太受（殖民者的）欢迎。
All the free-loving, gender-variant-permitting, gender equality wokeness clashed viciously with the European sensibilities at the time,
所有那些热爱自由、对多元化性别宽容的性别平等觉醒意识，都与当时欧洲人的感性发生了剧烈冲突，
so much so that the Spanish missionaries spent the next 300 years trying to enforce their two-sex, two-gender model.
导致西班牙传教士在接下来的300年里，一直试图强制实施他们的那套两性模式。
Many Spanish friars also thought that the cross-dressing babaylan were either celibates like themselves
许多西班牙修士也认为，异装的巴巴伊兰要么和他们一样独身禁欲，
or had deficient or malformed genitals. But this was pure speculation.
要么有生殖器官缺陷或畸形。但这纯粹是臆测。
Documents compiled between 1679 and 1685, called "The Bolinao Manuscript," mentions male shamans marrying women.
1679年至1685年间编纂的文件《波里瑙手稿》中提到了男性萨满和女性结婚。
The Boxer Codex, circa 1590, provide clues on the nature of the male babaylan sexuality.
约1590年编写的《谟区查抄本》提供了关于男性巴巴伊兰性取向的线索。
It says, "Ordinarily they dress as women, act like prudes
里面写道：“他们平时打扮成女人，表现得很禁欲，
and are so effeminate that one who does not know them would believe they are women.
而且女性化到不认识他们的人会以为他们是女人。
Almost all are impotent for the reproductive act,
他们几乎全员都生殖无能，
and thus they marry other males and sleep with them as man and wife and have carnal knowledge."
因此他们和别的男性结婚，像夫妻一样共寝，并拥有肉体知识。”
Carnal knowledge, of course, meaning sex.
“肉体知识”当然指的是性行为。
Now, there's an ongoing debate in contemporary society about what constitutes gender and how it should be defined.
在当代社会中，关于性别是什么以及如何定义性别的争论一直在持续。
My country is no exception. Some countries like Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Nepal and Canada
我的国家也不例外。一些国家，比如澳大利亚、新西兰、巴基斯坦、尼泊尔和加拿大，
have begun introducing nonbinary options in their legal documents, such as their passports and their permanent resident cards.
已经开始在法律文件中，引入男女性别之外的选项了。比如他们的护照和永久居民卡。
In all these discussions about gender, I think it's important to keep in mind that
在所有这些关于性别的讨论中，我认为记住一点很重要：
the prevailing notions of man and woman as static genders anchored strictly on biological sex are social constructs.
主流观点中，严格以生理性别为基础的男女静态性别，是一种社会建构。
In my people's case, this social construct is an imposition.
以我的国家为例，这种社会建构是强行施加的。
It was hammered into their heads over hundreds of years until they were convinced that their way of thinking was erroneous.
几百年以来，这种建构都被强行灌输给他们，直到他们深信自己原本的思想是错误的。
But the good thing about social constructs is they can be reconstructed to fit a time and age.
但社会建构的好处是，它们可以被重建，以适应时代。
They can be reconstructed to respond to communities that are becoming more diverse.
它们可以被重建，以响应变得更加多样化的社区。
And they can be reconstructed for a world that's starting to realize we have so much to gain from learning and working through our differences.
它们可以被重建，因为这个世界已经开始意识到，从差异中学习、在差异中合作，能够让我们受益匪浅。
When I think about this subject,
当我思考这个话题时，
I think about the Filipino people and an almost forgotten but important legacy of gender equality and inclusivity.
我会想到菲律宾的人民，和我们几乎被遗忘、却无比重要的性别平等与包容的遗产。
I think about lovers who were some of the gentlest souls I had known but could not be fully open.
我想起了一对对恋人，拥有最温柔的灵魂，却不能完全公开。
I think about people who have made an impact in my life,
我想起了对我的人生产生过影响的人们，
who showed me that integrity, kindness and strength of character are far better measures of judgment,
是他们教会我，正直、善良和坚强的品格才是评判一个人更好的标准，
far better than things that are beyond a person's control such as their skin color, their age or their gender.
远远优于那些不在个人掌控下的东西，比如肤色、年龄或者性别。
As I stand here today, on the shoulders of people like Lenie,
今天我站在这里，站在像蕾妮这样的人的肩上，
I feel incredibly grateful for all who have come before me, the ones courageous enough to put themselves out there,
我深深地感谢那些先驱者，那些有足够勇气坦露自我的人们，
who lived a life that was theirs and in the process, made it a little easier for us to live our lives now.
那些过着属于自己生活的人们，在这个过程中，他们也让我们现在的生活轻松了些许。
Because being yourself is revolutionary.
因为“做你自己”是革命性的。
And to anyone reeling from forces trying to knock you down and cram you into these neat little boxes people have decided for you: don't break.
如果有人试图击垮你，把你塞进早已为你设计好的精美的小盒子里，我想对你说：不要屈服。
I see you. My ancestors see you. Their blood runs through me as they run through so many of us.
我看得见你。我的祖先们也看得见你。他们的血在我的体内流淌，也在我们许多人的体内流淌。
You are valid, and you deserve rights and recognition just like everyone else. Thank you.
你的存在方式是合理的，你值得获得权利和认可，就像任何人一样。谢谢大家。