“在同志运动的进程中，我们不会把任何人抛在身后。”在亚特兰大召开的第25届全国同志大会上，Tack Force 执行主任 Ray Carey对着台下超过3500名参与者说。我就坐在台下，紧紧地攥着拳头，她的演讲使我充满力量。

行动和参与才能带来改变 

  这是我第二次来到美国，参加洛杉矶同志中心中国领导力项目的培训。2011年春天，我第一次到美国，在洛杉矶同志中心做了6周的实习生。在去洛杉矶实习前，我已经为要不要全职做同志工作纠结了近三年。这是我最感兴趣的工作，做了10年的志愿者，但是，我不愿意因为做全职工作而过多的降低生活质量。这段实习经历，让我回国后决定全职投入中国的同志运动。而带给我最大影响的是AIDS life Cycle 10（以下简称ALC 10）那段经历。

我在ALC 10做了一周的志愿者。65岁的琳达和我一起被分在交通组，负责维持起点和到达站的交通秩序。琳达的儿子，41岁的马修是一位同性恋者，2011年，他第10次参加骑行。琳达从家乡飞到旧金山，然后跟随骑行的队伍一路前行，历时一周到达洛杉矶。在这期间，她跟年青人一样睡在野外的帐篷里。对于为什么要来做志愿者的提问，琳达说，“我要为儿子做些什么。” 

与琳达来做义工支持儿子不同，58岁的迈克是来支持自己的，几个月前他刚刚出柜，并走出异性婚姻。他说，“在这里我精神上解放了”。在ALC10期间，我采访了10几位志愿者，他们都是普普通通的人，积极参与同志运动，这让我意识到，只有更多人行动和参与，才能带来改变。

公民的自我管理能力让我印象深刻 

美国公民的参与意识及自我管理能力给了我最大的震撼。ALC 10有2300余名车手参加，服务于此项活动的人员超过590人，只有10几名全职员工，其他570多人都是志愿者。除了在旧金山开幕那天，我看到有交警协助维持秩序外，之后，再没有见到有公务人员参与，全程皆由志愿人员协助完成。

 3000多人参与的活动，每天早上从宿营地离开时，看不到一片纸屑或垃圾，除了参与活动的人自觉外，志愿者队伍还有一个“清扫组”，等大家离开后，再“拉网式”排查一遍有没有垃圾留下。而整个活动的指导手册厚达1000多页，你能想到的任何一个细节都包括了进去。 

 我们交通组的志愿者，有人在谷歌工作，有人是律师，还有一位60多岁的老人，是几家酒店的老板，地地道道的亿万富翁，他每天早上3点半起床，负责分发早餐，每天领早餐时听到他“how are you doing”的问候和慈祥的笑脸，我就觉得世界真的是美好的。

    我至今无法理解，那么多人的潜能是如何在一个活动中被激发出发来的。我来自诚信缺失的社会，曾经对人性恶的一面充满警惕，但在ALC10上，我发现人性是那么的美，人们亲切和善，相互帮助。我卸掉了内心的所有防范，也进入到一种美国式的“单纯”的状态。这种单纯，让我变得轻松和快乐。

    2011年7月，我实习结束回到中国，停掉了之前所做的生意，全职为PFLAG China工作。一年半时间过去了，PFLAG China的工作从一个城市拓展到9个城市，活跃的家长从2位增加到近200人，现有5名专、兼职人员为PFLAG工作。这些变化，在两年前，我都不敢想象。正是在洛杉矶的实习经历，拓宽了我的视野，让我知道只要行动，我也能在自己的社会创造改变；不仅我可以，每个人，都可以用行动创造改变。

                                           作者系同性恋亲友会执行主任 （该文写于2013年1月，为一家美国网站供稿）

 

At the 25th Creating Change Conference in Atlanta, Ray Carey, The Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce declared in front of more than 3,500 attendees: “In the LGBT movement, we won’t leave anyone behind!” Sitting right below the stage, I had held up my fists. Her words filled me with energy.

Participation and Action Lead to Change

This is my second visit to the United States to participate in the Leadership Development Program at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center (www.laglc.org) which is collaboration between the Center and Aibai Culture & Education Center in China (www.aibai.org). In the spring of 2011, I came to the US for the first time as an intern at the LA Center for 6 weeks. Prior to coming, I struggled for three years on whether I would work fulltime in the LGBT movement. This is the work that I am most interested in, and I had been doing volunteer work for 10 years. However, I worried that becoming a fulltime activist would mean a decrease in living standard. The internship experience changed my mind however, and upon returning to China, I decided to become a fulltime LGBT activist. The particular experience that caused me to rethink my future the most was the AIDS LifeCycle 10 (ALC 10). 

I was a volunteer for ALC 10 for a week in Transportation. Among those working along with me was Linda who was 65 years old. Our responsibilities included managing traffic each day at the start and end points. Linda’s son Mathew was a 41 year old gay man and this was his 10 time riding in ALC. Linda flew from her hometown to San Francisco, and followed the riders the whole week to reach Los Angeles. During this week, she slept with all the younger people in tents. In answering the questions as to why she volunteered for this event, Linda said: “I want to do something for my son.”

Unlike Linda, 58 year old Michael came to ALC for himself. He had just come out of closet a few months prior after being married. He said: “Here I get liberated spiritually.” During ALC 10, I interviewed a dozen volunteers and they were all ordinary people with enthusiasm for the movement. This made me realize that only when there are more people participating and taking action will change occur.

Citizen Self Government Impressed Me Greatly 

The conscious decision to participate in civil activities and self-governance of Americans left a deep impression on me. Over 2,300 riders participate in ALC 10, and more than 590 people provided support services. Of the 590, only 10 were staff and the rest were all volunteers. Aside from some crowd control by the police on the opening day in San Francisco, no government personnel were involved in the rest of the event. The entire process was executed by volunteers.

With over 3,000 people camping out, there was not a single piece of paper or trash after each mornings pack up. Besides the care of the participants took to clean after themselves, there was also a volunteer “cleaning crew” who combed the entire camp ground after everyone else left. The handbook for the event is over 1,000 pages, covering every detail imaginable.

Among the volunteers in our Transportation group, there were people who worked at Google, and several lawyers. There was also a millionaire who owned several hotels responsible for serving breakfast. He got up every morning at 3:30 to prepare and each morning when I went to get my breakfast and saw his smiling face and a “how are you doing”, I felt the world is full of beauty.

I am still trying to understand where all this energy comes from and how it is channeled by this event. I came from a society where people have strong distrust amongst each other where everyone is always thinking of the negative part of human nature. At ACL 10, I rediscovered the beauty in human nature. The closeness and kindness, the mutual support that I witnessed blown away my mistrust and I was able to attain an “American naivety”, a “naivety” that brought me great relaxation and joy.

In July of 2011, I returned to China after my internship. I gave up all the business I was involved in and because a fulltime staff for PFLAG China. The past year and a half saw PFLAG China expand from 1 to 9 cities, from 2 active parents to over 200. We now have 5 staff. Two years ago I would not have dared imagine such progress. It is the Leadership Development Program in Los Angeles that broadened my vision, taught me I can affect social changes in China. In fact not just me, everyone can create change through action.