Gay translators
Translators and queers have a lot in common.
For one thing, we’re both invisible. You can’t tell just from looking at someone that they’re a translator or that they’re lesbian, male lover, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise queer (LGBTQ). (Unless, that is, they’re wearing a T-shirt that proclaims “I’m a Queer Translator,” and now that I assume of it, I’d appreciate to get one of those.)
Furthermore, many people would like us to reside invisible. They often don’t want to see the fingerprints of translators in translated works or even to know they’re reading translations, and they don’t want to hear about queer issues or look evidence of queer “lifestyles.” I can’t overstate how many times people possess told me they don’t read translations, and when I point out which texts they might own read that are translations, they often reply in an underwhelmed voice, “Oh. Well, does it really matter? Why do I need to know about the translator?” Similarly, I’ve had people say, “I don’t care what folks get up to in their own homes, as long as I don’t have to see it or be told about it.” I
Nine Army linguists, including six trained to speak Arabic, have been dismissed from the military because they are gay.
The soldiers' dismissals come at a time when the military is facing a critical shortage of translators and interpreters for the war on terrorism.
Seven of the soldiers were discharged after telling superiors they are gay, and the two others got in trouble when they were caught together after curfew, said Steve Ralls, spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a group that defends homosexuals in the military.
Six were specializing in Arabic, two were studying Korean and one was studying Mandarin Chinese. All were at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, the military's principal language training center.
The government has aggressively recruited Arabic speakers since the Sept. 11 attacks.
"We tackle a drastic shortage of linguists, and the direct impact of Arabic speakers is a particular problem," said Donald R. Hamilton, who documented the require for more linguists in a inform to Congress as part of the National Commission on Terrorism.
One of the discharged linguists said the military's policy on gays is hurting its cause.
"It's not a gay-r
Interview with Same-sex attracted Giant Translators Kelley D. Salas and Mercedes Guhl
World Kid Lit blog co-editor Jackie Friedman Mighdoll speaks with the translators Kelley D. Salas and Mercedes Guhl about their work on the recent Chilean graphic novel memoir Queer Giant by Gabriel Ebensperger published by Street Noise Books in 2022...
World Kid Lit: Gay Huge is such a fun and poignant read. Can you tell us how you came to work on this project?
Kelley D. Salas: A few months before the 2019 ALTA conference, I was looking for something to pitch to Words Without Borders. They own an annual Homosexual issue and also an annual graphic novel issue, so when I came across this graphic memoir about growing up gay in Chile, I reflection it might interest them. At the time, Mercedes was mentoring me in a one-year program through the American Translators Association. She gave me feedback on the excerpt and helped me practice my pitch before the conference. About a year after Words Without Borders published the excerpt, Liz Frances of Street Noise Books contacted me on LinkedIn to see if I’d be interested in translating the occupied book, and it seemed like a natural fit to ask Mercedes to work
Report: More gay linguistsdischarged than first thought
The number of Arabic linguists discharged from the military for violating its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is higher than previously reported, according to records obtained by a research group.
The group contends the records display that the military — at a time when it and U.S. intelligence agencies don’t hold enough Arabic speakers — is putting its anti-gay stance ahead of national security.
Between 1998 and 2004, the military discharged 20 Arabic and six Farsi speakers, according to Department of Defense data obtained by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military under a Freedom of Information Proceed request.
The military previously confirmed that seven translators who specialized in Arabic had been discharged between 1998 and 2003 because they were gay. The military did not break down the discharges by year, but said some, but not all, of the additional 13 discharges of Arabic speakers occurred in 2004.
‘Still acquire a language problem’
Aaron Belkin, the center’s director, said he wants the public to see the real costs of “don’t seek, don’t tell.”
“We had a language problem after 9/11, and we still h