“Simon vs the homosapiens agenda” a book by Becky Albertalli, is about a gay closeted boy living in
Georgia. Georgia, being a southern state, is more traditionally conservative and defined, culturally and
politically, by various types of discrimination. The story of this book happens in modern times and it's
not so long ago. It shows that in modern times where gay people are accepted in all fifty states of The
United States there are still people out there that show discrimination towards gay people and deprive
them from having social justice. Being a gay student in a school where he and sees his gay schoolmate
being bullied and humiliated in front of everyone, Simon is scared and doesn't want to come out of the
closet and be go through all the bullying and humiliating. He doesn't want to be an outcast in the
society, he also doesn't want his family to leave him or hate him because of his sexual orientation.
Unusual circumstances, threats and friendships at risk lead Simon to be forced out of the closet, but
when he gets out as gay, after talking to his mother and understanding that he is still Simon and his
family and friends love him he tries to put the fear away and own being gay and stops being so afraid of
changing and what people think.
Living in Georgia, Simon was very afraid of being a victim to social injustice. Georgia is a place where
people who live there think in a very old fashioned way. Although they have made same-sex activities
legal since 1998, they don't protect people if they are discriminated because of their sexual orientation.
At 2018, 56% of the people in Georgia refused to serve gay and lesbian people in Georgia. When Simon
saw how people were treating the only open gay person in their school, he got scared and didn't want to
go through with all that discrimination and bullying. However, after he was out as a gay person, when
the bullies bullied him in front of the whole school, a teacher came and put them back into their place
and told them their attitude was wrong and ignorant. Also, when his principle said that him and the
other gay boy were in a relationship just because both of them were gay, which is something very
ignorant to say, he stood up for himself and corrected him that not all gay open gay people are in a
relationship. The stereotypical thinking that all gay people are in a relationship was an act of injustice
because people never say that straight people who talk to each other are dating or have romantic
feelings for each other but are hiding it. Although his principle did say something very ignorant he
punished the bullies and cheered him to go for the person he likes, despite changing his behavior a little
bit at the beginning and telling Simon that whenever he was very friendly with him he didn't mean it in a
gay way, which Simon dismissed saying that he knew.
Being blackmailed by Martin, Simon wanted to do everything to keep himself and Blue - the person that
he was talking with through email that was also gay and went to their school but no one knew exactly
who he was- safe. Martin used Simon’s fear of being an open gay person and blackmailed him into
setting him up with his friend Abby. Over time Simon tried to ignore Martin or tell him to stop and a ted
that he didn't care if he outed him, but Martin mentioned that by spreading the messages he will also
expose Blue which was something that Simon didn't want to happen. Seeing that he had no other choice
and there was no way to stop Martin, despite disagreeing with him so many times and telling him to
stop and what he’s doing is wrong Martin didn’t stop and when he didn’t get what he wanted, he posted
Simons chats and outed him to the whole school. There are many other cases where gay people are
outed to their school by their bullies or just random people who don’t like gays and that is wrong.
Coming out of the closet is something very personal and it should never be taken away from someone.
Searching for t and reading different stories, there are millions of people who were forced out of the
closet and had a very hard time after that. Exposing someone’s secret is wrong, what about exposing a
part of who they are. When Martin exposed Simons secret like that, after having a breakdown about it
and thinking that his life was over, he thought about all the things that happened and decided that it
was enough to hide and be afraid and shamed of who he was. So instead of cowering away and being
afraid, he maned up walked through his school doors holding his head up and being proud of who he
was.
No one should be afraid to show who they really are to their family. To hide ho you are for most of your
life because you’re afraid that your family won’t accept you or they might throw you out or disown you
is not fair. Not everyone has to go through that and when people do it’s because of the environment
they live in and their experience. Simon knew that his family loved him, but he didn’t know what their
reaction would be when he came out as gay to them. When he was known a gay person n school he
thought that his parents should hear this from him and not anybody else, so he came out to his parents.
When his mom talked to him after that she told him that he shouldn’t be afraid of who he was and be
proud of himself because that is a part of him. When he talked to his dad, he realized that he still loved
him as his son and nothing has changed; only that he doesn’t have to hide a part of himself and be the
real Simon. His talk with his family, and the relief that he knew he had his family with him no matter
what also gave him the courage to accept himself and go for the ma he loves and not hide anymore.
From bullied, to blackmailing, to having to choose between his friends and the person he loves because
he was gay, and to being afraid of his family, Simon goes through a lot of discrimination and injustice
that no normal person goes though. Because of a belief that was set, that gays are bad, Simon thought
that everyone thought like that , even his family and friends, and was scared to show them who he
really was. Although Simon pushed past the fear with the support of his family and friends there are a
lot of gay teenagers who won’t make it and hide it or run away from it. To hide a part of your
personality and who you are is a form of injustice. No teenager should go through being bullied because
of their sexuality and everyone should be treated equally no matter their skin color, race, sexuality or
religion.