顿时的意思是什么:感觉到时便走下那条桥：双性恋是什么？

One of the things that really confuses us at The Bisexual Index is when people try to position bisexuality as some sort of magical middle-ground between gay and straight. Sure, we're not attracted to just the gender that gay people are, nor just the gender that straight people are, but that doesn't mean that either they're all that far apart or that we bisexuals sit between them in any other way. We blame Kinsey, or perhaps people trying to use his scale as a bigger model than was intended. 

    在The Bisexual Index（原文发表的网站），有一件事实在让我们困惑，那便是人们尝试将双性恋定位在一种处于同性恋与双性恋之间的妥协回旋之地。没错，吸引我们的人的性别不仅跟同性恋者的一样，也跟异性恋者的一样。但这并不意味着这两类人之间相隔很远，也不意味着我们双性恋是以某种姿态处在他们中间的。我们认为金赛的理论是有误的[注1]，不过也有可能是人们将他的衡量标准当作一个更广泛的规范来使用，而这一点也许是与他的本意相违的。

It's the "Half Gay, Half Straight" myth, essentially - having been told there's more than two options many people try to fit the new options between the other two. Bisexuality isn't a third option to these people, it's a one-and-a-half-th. Some bisexuals, even some bisexual activists make this mistake. It's like viewing a triangle end-on -what you think is a mid point becomes a separate and equal node if instead you look from above. 

    实质上，“一半同性一半异性”这样一个没什么根据的观点，告诉了某些人除了同性和异性之外，还有另一个选择。而他们知道了之后，便想办法将这个新选择适应到原来的那两个之间。对于这些人来说，双性恋并不是第三选择，而是一个“第1.5选择”。一些双性恋者，甚至是一些双性恋运动者也犯了这个错。这就像是让三角形的一个角对着你然后观察这个三角形——若是从上往下看，你所认为的中点就会变成一个独立且与其他点相同的点。

We're not in between. We're not mixed, stirred together, confused or muddled. 

    我们不是在中间的，我们也不是混合、搅拌起来含糊不清的群体。

Many times when looking at the HIV statistics, people posit that there is a "bisexual bridge" that spreads HIV from the gay to straight populations. While this may appeal to researchers in terms of modelling it's really not helpful in the long-term for promoting safer sex among bisexuals; it's telling us our very existence is the problem. The truth is that it's not bisexuals that spread HIV, unsafe sex spreads HIV. Some of that will be by bisexuals, but it's not their sexuality that is spreading it, it's their actions. Bisexuals have not been found to be less likely to use condoms than gay men, for example. No one involved in HIV Prevention in the LGBT community promotes the message "it's gay men that are spreading HIV within the gay community, don't have sex with gay men" - instead they focus on the behaviour that is high risk. We'd like the same level-headedness to apply to bisexuals too. 

    在查看HIV相关的统计资料时，人们经常会空想出一条“双性恋桥”，在他们眼中这条桥将HIV病毒从同性恋人群传播到异性恋人群。这样的假想在建模方面对于研究者来说也许有吸引力，但对于在长期意义上促进双性恋者间的性行为安全却是毫无意义的。这也在告诉我们，是我们处理这些事情的方式有问题——事情的真相是，传播HIV病毒的不是双性恋者，而是不安全的性行为。有一部分确实是通过双性恋者传播的，但并不是他们的性在传播，而是他们的行为在传播。比如说，相比于同性恋男性，双性恋者使用安全套的频率并不见得就比他们少。在LGBT群体[注2]中，在谈到预防HIV的话题时，从来就没有人说过这样的话：“是同性男在同性恋群体里传播HIV，不要和同性男发生性关系。”相反，他们会关心那些高危的行为。我们应该将这种清醒的头脑也带到双性恋群体里来。

Some bisexual activists have either tried to reclaim the bridge metaphor or have seized upon it as a mental image without realising how it was already being used. They encourage people to picture bisexuality as a bridge between the gay and straight worlds, or islands, and say that it "links" them, or "brings them together" 

    一些双性恋运动者要么试图纠正这个桥的比喻，要么顺水推舟将其作为一个精神象征，但他们没有弄清楚这个“桥”一直以来被当作怎样的一个意象使用。他们鼓励人们将双性恋想象为一条架在同性恋与异性恋世界之间的桥或岛，并且说这条桥“连接”起了两个世界或者“将他们拉到了一起”。

But this metaphor, even without the baggage of being used in a HIV context, is problematic and biphobic. 

    只不过这样的一个比喻，即便没有被束缚在与HIV有关的上下文里，也会令人生疑、令人对双性恋留有不好的印象。

Worlds, or islands, are solid, fixed, steady. People can live on them. They support a diversity of communities. Two entirely separate islands, or worlds, might have different languages, and most likely have nothing in common. 

    “世界”、“岛”都是自成一体的、固定不变的。人们可以居住在上面，世界或岛可以维持各有不同的社会。两个完全相隔的岛或者世界之间，会有不同的语言，并且很有可能毫无相通之处。

But the heterosexual and homosexual communities aren't like that. They share language, art, music, sports, many aspects and many people. Parents and children can belong to different ones. There's no turbulent sea or gaping void turning back explorers. - it is possible to travel between them, or work with both of them, without referencing bisexuality at all. The fact is, we'd like people to work with both of those while also including bisexuality, but we don't want to use the bridge metaphor. 

    可是异性恋与同性恋群体之间并不是那样的。他们中的许多人在语言、艺术、音乐、体育等许多方面都有共同的地方。父母与孩子可以分别是这两个群体中的人，两个群体之间没有什么波涛汹涌，也没有不可跨越的鸿沟以至于让探险者只得折返。我们可以在他们之间自由来往，或者和来自两边的人打交道而完全不需经双性恋者的向导。事实上，我们希望人们能与异性恋、同性恋以及双性恋往来，但不想用这个桥的比喻。

A Bridge Too Far?

一条太远的桥？

What's wrong with bisexuality being seen as a bridge between these communities? Aside from the fact that they're far too similar to be usefully seen as entirely separate? 

    除了他们实在是太相似、没办法很好地看作是完全分开的这点之外，双性恋被看作介于这两个群体间的桥梁，还有什么不妥呢？

Bridges don't bring worlds together (that'd be some sort of gigantic space-winch), or islands for that matter - they're rigid and reinforce the distances between their ends, making it clear when you no longer have one island beneath you, only bridge. 

    ·桥并不能将连接两个世界（不然那就是星际吊梁之类的庞然大物了），对于岛也同理。桥是塑造好的，将两端的距离固定了下来，并且让你明白当你脚下不是岛的时候，便只有桥了。

Bridges are recent, man-made constructs. They're not natural like islands. 

    ·桥是近世的、人工的创造，不像岛那么自然。

Bridges are flimsy by comparison to islands (and even more so to worlds!). They can be torn down by storms or time. 

    ·与岛相比，桥非常脆弱（更不用说跟世界相比了！）。他们轻易地就会被风暴吹倒或者时间所

They cross the sea, or the void, somewhere you don't want to get off - bridges aren't somewhere you want to live, they're something you travel along and then leave. 

    ·桥梁跨越大海或者鸿沟，你并不想走下桥到这些地方去——桥不是你想生活的地方，而是你在旅途中走过然后抛于身后的路。

Bridges are the middle of a journey - bridges, effectively, are Just A Phase. 

    ·桥是旅程的半途——说白了，桥只是一个过渡。

We believe that bisexuality isn't transient, or fleeting, or a construct. It's not flimsy, nor a poor choice. It's not just the middle of the journey, it can be either or both ends. 

    我们相信，双性恋不是昙花，不会转瞬即逝，也不是什么创造。双性恋不脆弱，也不是一个不得己的选择。双性恋不仅仅是旅程的半途，她可以是旅程的起点和终点。

So, should we picture bisexuality as an island too? What would be the bridges between them then? Perhaps it's one big island and we're the town between the two cities? That's problematical as well, as it suggests that we sit on ground that's been either taken from the Gay and Straight identities, or that if the perception of these broadens we'll be squeezed out! 

    那么，我们应不应该将双性恋想象为一个岛屿？那么在他们之间的桥又是什么呢？或者说，有一个很大的岛，我们是岛上两个城市间的城镇？这仍然让人有疑问，因为这种想法暗含了一层意思，即我们身下的土地是从同性恋者或者异性恋者的身份中获得的，而当这种观点扩大的时候，我们就会被排挤出去！

Here at The Bisexual Index we think that people should be encouraged to stop thinking in such linear ways. Let's go back to that triangle; seen from above there's three equal nodes. Imagine it as a map, with the town at each corner having grown to form one big city of sexual identities. A bustling metropolis, there's room for all, and it's possible to get from gay to straight, or bi to gay, or any one of a number of loops. There's room for expansion at the fringes of all. Where the towns meet and merge there's plenty of space for people who want to take time to decide, or indeed to settle down and never need to, because the truth is that there is no fence. 

    在The Bisexual Index，我们觉得应当鼓励各位放弃线性的想法。我们回到那个三角形：从上往下，你看能到三个平等的节点。想象一下，这是一幅地图，每个角上都有一个正在发展为不同性取向的大的小镇。这些城市会是熙攘的大都会，每个城市都有自己的空间，人们可以从同性恋到异性恋，也可以从双性恋到同性恋，还可以来几趟环游。在每个城市的边缘都有可供扩展的空间。而在这些边缘地带，有许多小镇聚集、融合，无论是需要时间去做决定的人、确实想定居下来的人还是无需考虑的人都有其足够的容身之处——因为那里不会有围栏。

We're all in this together, we all need to work together for equality. Bi isn't where gay and straight meet, because sexuality isn't a one dimensional street.

    我们同在一片热土上，我们需要一起为平等而努力。双性恋不是同性恋和异性恋碰头的地方，因为性是一条多维的街。

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注1：这里说的是金赛对于一个人是异性恋、同性恋还是双性恋者的衡量标准，其中第三类被定义为"Equally heterosexual and homosexual"即“一半是同性恋一半是异性恋”。

注2：LGBT，指女同性恋者(Lesbians)、男同性恋者(Gays)、双性恋者(Bisexuals)与跨性别者(Transgender)。