#114 The first transgender celebrity in China 中国第一位跨性别名人

大家好！欢迎回来MaoMi Chinese！

在MaoMi Chinese的第112集，我介绍了张国荣，他是一个有名的歌星，也公开了他是同性恋。（See #112 Leslie Cheung, a name saddens every Chinese）有一些朋友问我：“LGBT的人们在中国的生活是怎么样的？”这是一个非常大的问题，如果你们有兴趣的话，我可以邀请一些LGBT的中国朋友来MaoMi Chinese 做客，说一说他们的经历。今天，我想和你们聊一聊中国的第一位跨性别名人——金星。

1967年，金星在中国东北出生。出生的时候，她是一个男孩儿。六岁的时候，金星就觉得自己应该是一个女孩儿。她热爱唱歌和跳舞，有时候家人和朋友说她像一个活泼的小女孩，她觉得特别高兴。十几岁时，金星拿到了去纽约学习舞蹈的奖学金。1991年，她在美国第一次演出，《纽约时报》评论她演出“自信得惊人”。在美国住了四年后，她开始了欧洲的演出。除了英语、汉语、韩语和日语以外，她还学会了法语和意大利语。在1993年，26岁的她回到了中国，准备以跨性别者的身份出柜。

虽然金星很早就知道自己应该是女孩儿，但是她到1995年，她28岁的时候，她才去做了跨性别的手术，完全成为跨性别女人。虽然跨性别手术在中国是合法的，但是中国是一个比较保守的国家，在那个时候，LGBT的人们还是会遭到很多批评。金星决定，她要先成为中国最优秀的舞蹈家。她说：“我足够强大的时候，我就可以面对你们了。”金星是对的。1995年，她做完手术以后，虽然也遭到了一些批评，但是很多人都很支持她。

金星不仅是一个舞蹈家，还是一个脱口秀演员。她说话很真诚，也很直接，有时候很刻薄。人们非常喜欢这样敢说话的人。人们都说：“虽然金星毒舌，但是我们很爱她！ ”毒舌，意思是说话很直接，甚至有些刻薄。然而，金星说人们喜欢她，不是因为她是跨性别女人，而是因为她做自己。她说：“你们给我贴上男人标签也好，女人标签也好，我都是一个发光的人。”你们同意她的观点吗？

关于中国的LGBT，你想问什么问题呢？欢迎在MaoMi Chinese的网站上给我们留言哦！

Hello everyone! Welcome back to MaoMi Chinese!

In episode 112 of MaoMi Chinese, I introduced Leslie Cheung, a famous singer who publicly came out as gay. (See #112 Leslie Cheung, a name saddens every Chinese) Some friends asked me, "What is life like for LGBT people in China?" This is a big question, and if you're interested, I can invite some LGBT Chinese friends to be guests on MaoMi Chinese and share their experiences. Today, I want to talk to you about China's first transgender celebrity, Jin Xing.

Jin Xing was born in Northeast China in 1967 as a boy. At the age of six, she felt that she should have been born a girl. She loved singing and dancing, and sometimes her family and friends would say she looked like a lively little girl, which made her very happy. In her teens, Jin Xing received a scholarship to study dance in New York. In 1991, she performed for the first time in the United States, and The New York Times praised her performance as "astonishingly self-assured." After living in the United States for four years, she began performing in Europe. In addition to English, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, she also learned French and Italian. In 1993, at the age of 26, she returned to China and prepared to come out as a transgender person.

Although Jin Xing knew she should have been a girl from a young age, it wasn't until she was 28 in 1995 that she underwent transgender surgery and became a transgender woman. Although transgender surgery is legal in China, it is still a relatively conservative country, and LGBT people at that time still faced a lot of criticism. Jin Xing decided that she wanted to become China's best dancer first. She said, "When I'm strong enough, I can face all of you." Jin Xing was right. After undergoing surgery in 1995, although she also faced some criticism, many people supported her.

Jin Xing is not only a dancer, but also a talk show host. She speaks sincerely, directly, and sometimes sharply. People like those who are brave enough to speak their minds. People say, "Although Jin Xing can be sharp-tongued, we love her!" Being sharp-tongued means speaking directly and even a bit harshly. However, Jin Xing says people like her not because she is a transgender woman, but because she is being herself. She said, "Whether you label me as a man or a woman, I am still a shining person." Do you agree with her?

What questions do you have about China's LGBT community? Please feel free to leave a message on our MaoMi Chinese website!