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Chapter 35
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Becoming Nicole, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gender Identity, Expression, and Transformation
Knowledge vs. Ignorance
Gender, Sex, and the Scientific Community
Discrimination, Advocacy, and Pride
Family, Love, and Social Expectations
Summary
Analysis
Two weeks after Nicole lobbies against LD 1046, the bill is defeated in the state senate and house, and the following day a new bill is introduced that would strengthen the state’s anti-bullying laws. The Maineses feel a sense of vindication.
Nutt demonstrates the power of Nicole’s pride and advocacy, as she has a hand in successfully defeating a bill that would discriminate against the transgender community.
Themes
A few months later, a reporter from the Boston Globe writes a feature about the Maineses and what they’d been through. It is an “unprecedented” story for a major American newspaper, and the Globe is flooded with calls and emails and media requests. People are moved by the Maineses’ story. Kelly tries to keep the requests at bay, making sure that her children can experience life as average teenagers.
Again, the idea that the Maineses are able to do this interview without fear of further harassment demonstrates a real change in society. Rather than the huge amount of hate they received in Orono, now they have a flood of support.
Themes
