【雅思课外精读】厕所要革命：美国正饱受缺乏公共厕所之苦

　　【雅思课外精读】厕所要革命：美国正饱受缺乏公共厕所之苦   原文译文   *注：本文选自12月10日《经济学人》

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　　Public Toilets公共厕所America is suffering from a lack of public toilets美国正饱受缺乏公共厕所之苦Apart from the embarrassment of getting caught short, having nowhere to go has serious political consequences除了厕所过少之外，没地方上厕所还会带来严重的政治后果

　　1. YESTERDAY’S OUTRAGE often slips away quietly. In 2016 a North Carolina law requiring transgender people to use the toilet of their birth sex upset the nation’s stomach. Companies pulled out of ventures in the state, sports leagues called off games and rock stars cancelled concerts. The law was repealed and replaced with one which prevented state and local agencies from regulating who uses which toilet in public buildings. On December 1st that ban expired, meaning that local governments in North Carolina can enact legislation to prevent discrimination against LGBT people.

　　过去的愤怒总是悄然消失。2016年，北卡罗来纳州的一项法律要求跨性别者按照出生时的性别使用厕所，这震惊了整个美国。因为这项法案，一些公司撤出了在卡罗莱纳的风险投资，体育联盟取消在此的了比赛，摇滚明星也取消了音乐会。如今，这项法案被废止，取而代之的是一项禁止州和地方机构决定公共建筑中谁使用哪个厕所的新法案。12月1日，该禁令到期，这意味着北卡罗莱纳州的地方政府可以通过立法来防止对LGBT人群的歧视。

　　2. Thus closes another chapter in the politics of the toilet. The story is a long one. In the 1950s and 60s civil-rights protesters decried “whites only” latrines. An Oakland assembly woman, Margaret Fong Eu, took a sledgehammer to a toilet wrapped in chains outside the state capitol in 1969 to protest against pay toilets in public buildings, arguing that they placed an undue burden on women because urinals were often free. Activists poured fake urine over the steps of Harvard’s Lowell Hall in 1973 demanding “potty parity”, the equitable distribution of male and female toilets. Grip bars in bathrooms were among the demands of the disability protesters who occupied a federal building in San Francisco for 26 days in 1977.

　　厕所政治故事的一个篇章结束了，但是故事还很长。上世纪五六十年代，民权抗议者抨击“白人专用”厕所。1969年，奥克兰女议员Margaret Fong Eu拿着大锤砸向州议会大厦外一个厕所，抗议在公共建筑内使用收费厕所。她认为，这种做法给女性带来了不必要的负担，因为小便器通常是免费的。1973年，活动人士在哈佛大学洛厄尔大厅的台阶上倾倒尿液，要求男女厕所分配均等。1977年，残障抗议者占据旧金山一座联邦大厦长达26天，要求在卫生间安装把手。

　　3. The feminist fight against pay toilets, and a campaign by a student group, the Committee to End Pay Toilets in America, led to many states banning pay toilets in the 1970s. Vandalism and the cost of upkeep shut down many public ones. Discussions about public toilets assume they are still widely available, according to Taunya Lovell Banks, of the University of Maryland, but “free or low-cost public toilets operated by government have largely disappeared”, and access to toilets in government buildings has been reduced since the Oklahoma City Bombing and 9/11.

　　20世纪70年代，女权主义者发起反对公厕收费的运动。学生社团“禁止美国收费公厕委员会”也发起了一系列运动，许多州禁止公厕收费。然而，人们的随意破坏以及维护费用的缺乏导致很多公厕被迫关闭。马里兰大学的陶尼亚·洛弗尔·班克斯表示，公厕讨论总是认为公厕供应充足，但“由政府运营的免费或廉价公厕在很大程度上已经没有了”，而且自俄克拉荷马城爆炸案和9/11事件以来，政府办公大楼内公厕已经减少。

　　4. So those caught short must duck into a local business and awkwardly ask for relief. “Restrooms are for customers only” signs mean it often takes a penny to spend a penny, creating a barrier to the poor. Where public urination is criminalised, the homeless may have no option but to risk arrest by going in public places. In some states, this can land them on the sex-offender registry. Closures of toilets during covid-19 have only added to the problem.

　　因此，那些急于要上卫生间的人就跑到企业厕所，尴尬地寻求释放。“卫生间仅供顾客使用”的标识意味着上厕所要花钱，这给穷人带来了负担。在公共场所小便是违法的，但是无家可归者除了冒着被捕风险在公共场所小便外，别无选择。在一些州，这可以使他们进入性罪犯登记。新冠期间企业停摆只会加剧问题。

　　5. The lack of accessible toilets has public-health consequences. Holding water for too long can lead to urinary-tract infections, and failure to defecate can lead to constipation and haemorrhoids. This can be difficult for workers who lack easy access to toilets, such as taxi drivers, and disproportionately affects women, who need to go more frequently. No toilets also means no soap. An outbreak of hepatitis A linked to the lack of toilets led to the death of 20 and the hospitalisation of hundreds in San Diego in 2017.

　　缺乏公共厕所会对公共健康造成影响。憋尿时间过久会导致尿路感染，排便不畅则会带来便秘和痔疮。这对于像出租车司机这些群体来说，缺乏便利的公共厕所带来的影响是巨大的，尤其是女性，她们去卫生间的频率更高。没有卫生间也就没有肥皂。2017年，圣地亚哥因缺少厕所而爆发的甲型肝炎导致20人死亡，数百人住院。

　　6. Public toilets are costly to install and maintain, and can attract undesirable behaviour. But spurred on by America’s homelessness crisis, some cities are answering the call. The right to urinate might not be up there with the right to vote, but having it guaranteed would be a relief.

　　公共厕所的安装和维护费用昂贵，而且还可能引起不良行为。但在美国无家可归危机的刺激下，一些城市开始响应号召。小便的权利可能不会和投票的权利相提并论，但能够得到保证肯定会让人宽慰。