美國變性情侶 性別互換泳裝秀恩愛

Teenagers Arin Andrews and Katie Hill look like any normal young couple posing in their swimwear. It is hard to believe that just two years ago Arin was a girl called Emerald, and Katie was a boy called Luke.
奧林-安德魯和凱蒂-希爾看上去是對兒普通的穿着泳裝的青少年情侶。很難相信兩年前奧林還是個叫做埃默拉德的女孩，而凱蒂則是名爲盧克的男生。

Arin, 17, and Katie, 19, have both undergone surgeries to change their gender and now are enjoying being in their bodies they always wished for.
17歲的奧林和19歲的凱蒂都做了變性手術，而且很喜歡現在他們一直想要的身體。

Just over a year ago Katie had gender reassignment surgery, thanks to an amazing $35,000 donation from an anonymous donor who read her story in a local newspaper. Now, Arin, who is still at school, has undergone an operation to remove both of his breasts, and is proudly showing off his new male physique.
幾年前，有一匿名捐贈者在當地報紙上讀了凱蒂的故事，並捐出3.5萬美元供她做變性手術。奧林現在還在上學，幾年前做手術除掉乳房，還會很驕傲地炫耀自己的男性體格。

Katie and Arin met nearly two years ago at a support group for transgender teenagers and bonded through their shared experiences. Katie said: 'To me, Arin's just my Arin, he's always looked manly to me. But now he's had the surgery he's much more confident and comfortable with himself.'
大概兩年前，凱蒂和奧林通過一個支持青少年變性的組織認識，分享各自經歷後兩人走得更近。凱蒂說：“奧林就是我的奧林，對我來說，他一直都很有男子氣概。但手術之後他更加自信，也比以前更舒適自在了。”

But now that the teens' physical appearance matches their gender, both of them are excited to be able to go swimming, boating and sunbathe like other couples. Katie added: 'Being transgender myself, I understand Arin probably better than anybody else, how good he feels and how complete he feels.'
現在這兩人的體態外形和性別相配，能像其他情侶一樣去游泳、划船、曬日光浴。凱蒂還說：“我本人就有變性經歷，所以會比其他人更懂奧林，我知道他手術後的感覺多麼完美奇妙。”

Both the couple's families are supportive of their relationship and say the way the teenagers have supported each other has helped in their transition. Arin's mum Denise Andrews said: 'Seeing Katie go through her surgery was helpful to Arin.
這對情侶的家人也很支持二人關係，還說兩人相互鼓勵支持對他們的變性生活有積極影響。奧林的媽媽丹妮絲-安德魯說：“凱蒂順利完成變性手術對奧林的幫助很大。”

'And being a couple at the time was I think just the cherry on the cake. Every transgender person would love to have the transformation physically because it just completes them as a person.'
“兩人能走在一起真是太好了。每個變性人都想改變身體原貌，這樣才能讓他們感覺到他們是完整的一個人。”

After he began dressing as a boy, Arin also lost a new male friend who learned about his past as a girl. 'He said: ''I pictured you as a girl, and I can't do it anymore,''' said Arin, adding: 'You can't just force people to be your friends.'
奧林成男孩後也交了幾個男性朋友，但當他們知道奧林過去是個女孩後便不再來往。奧林說：“有個人說：‘我以前只覺得你像個女的，但現在我再也不這樣想了。’”他還補充道：“但你不能逼別人成爲你的朋友。”

Katie started her degree course at an Oklahoma university last autumn but has struggled to make new friends because of prejudices against transgender people in the traditional Southern State. She said: 'I had quite a lot of friends in college that were really close to me and then all of a sudden they just stopped talking to me. I think what happened is they found out I was trans through a story or word of mouth and they decided that was too much for them.'
凱蒂去年秋天開始在俄克拉荷馬大學攻讀學位，也沒交到很多新朋友，因爲在傳統的南部州，人們都有些歧視變性人。她說：“我先開始周圍有很多朋友，和我很親密。但突然她們就都不和我說話了，因爲她們通過報道或傳言發現我是個變性人。她們無法接受這一事實。”

The last two years have also been difficult for the teenager's families as they've come to terms with losing their son and daughter, and also some of their own friends. Arin's mum Denise said: 'There are still a group of people we don't interact with any more. I know that they questioned me as a parent, they're not comfortable with it.'
過去兩年中，變性情侶雙方家庭也不好過。他們先後失去了自己的兒子和女兒，之後有些朋友也不再來往。奧林的媽媽丹妮絲說：“現在還有一羣人和我們斷絕來往。我知道他們認爲我是個問題家長，對此感到很不適。”

But she added: 'A lot of people worry about losing the gender of their child. But as you look through albums and realise your babies are growing up, we also watched them grow up and turn into somebody different.
但她還說：“許多人都擔心失去孩子的原有性別。但當你翻看相冊時會發現，以前的小嬰兒現在都長大了，我們同樣都親眼看到孩子們慢慢長大，變成另一個不同的人。”

'Whether they stay the same gender or not, they become independent.' Now their outward transformation is complete, the teenagers hope people will accept them as their new genders, and their difficulties will become a thing of the past.
“不管孩子們是不是保持着原有性別，他們都已成熟獨立。”現在兩個青少年的外部整形都已完成，他們希望外界能夠接受自己的新性別，希望自己遇到的困難都變成過往歷史。