Nichols Article

I found the Nichols article highly interesting and thought that Sharon Nichols brings up an important issue about how one's sexual preferance can cause someone so much pain and how someone's own private and personal pereferance can be used against them just because they are gay, lesbian, or bisexual. I found it extremely alarming when the article mentioned that many adolescents who are in school are "emotionally and socially at risk of depression, suicide, dropping out, failing, or committing crimes." I think Sharon Nichols did a brilliant job on introducing the concep0t as to why this is a social problem. I also agree with the fact that the article mentions how adolescents should not have to negotiate their homosexual identity. However, I also agree with the fact that our societal values and the media, televesion, books, movies, and magazines all contribute to the problem because sometimes they don't stress or emphasize on the important facts and issues enough they are very influential and sometimes I don't think the media always realizes this. People should not be killed and have violence committed towards them because they are homosexual and because of something that is private and personal to them. People do not only discriminate against homosexuals at school but they discriminate against homosexuals on the internet even the military the don't ask don't tell rule that you can be discharged from the military because of your sexuality. I even heard on televison from a comedian one time that some interpreters were fired because they were homosexual. I personally do not agree with these kinds of metalities and ideologies we are all humans and like Mr. Martin Luther King and our presidents have said before us in the past we all need to be treated equally. Furthermore, I believe the theory that best expalins why this social problem exists is the symbolic interactionism theory because they look for symbols and meanings within a social problem and this particular article was all about symbols and meanings and "norms".