Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community
By: Dennis Carlson

Authors Argument:
Denis Carlson seems to be arguing that schools along with the communities should consider teaching the people to realize that everyone is normal. categorizing people, normal, and abnormal do not exist we are all just regular people. Carlson also says that it is the job of the head leaders and teachers to set the example and to use the words "homosexual", "lesbian", "gay", and any other words people are afraid to say, because it isn't something to be ashamed of, it is just another aspect of life different from the norm.

Quotes:

1 - "The objective of classroom discourse is thus not so much to achieve consensus on "truth" or "objective" depiction of reality, but rather to clarify differences and agreements, work toward coalition-building across difference when possible, and build relationships based on caring and equity." I chose this quote because this shows our future and what we should be expecting. It shows future jobs, and shows what the future teachers need to strive for in order to make a difference. This quote made me realize that I do really want to be a teacher and i do actually want to make a difference in children lives and help them achieve a good education.

2) - "Gay people have for the most part been made absent, invisible, and silent within this community and at the same time represented as the deviant and pathological other." I chose this quote because I don’t think that way. I don’t believe in the hole “normal” theory. There is no such thing. What is normal to one person can be foreign to many others. I don’t think that people should ignore the fact that there are gay people in the world. They should look at all people similarly and not like they are from another planet or invisible.

3) - "(Black, working class, female, homosexual..)are disempowered and represented as deviant, sick, neurotic, criminal, lazy, lacking in intelligence, and in other ways abnormal." I do not like this quote at all. Because of someone's gender, sexual likings, or color of their skin, they are considered and looked upon to have a lack of intelligence or considered to be lazy or sick. I felt disgusted when I read this. I don’t even know where someone gets ideas like this. People are people. Just because they are a little different then you might be, does not mean they have any disadvantages.

Questions/Comments:
I didn’t like reading this article to much. I don't know if it was the language or just simply because it frustrated me. I think this is good that we are learning about gender and all its forms and I think it is great that we are learning techniques to include words like "homosexual", "lesbian", "gay", because teaching that to the students will let them know that it is ok to be gay or friends with gays, and also that it is ok to address the fact that there are gay people in the world and that its ok to except that.