U.S. Gay Marriage Victory

Pre-Intermediate +

BNE: The US Supreme Court yesterday decided not to intervene in a dispute over gay marriages, ruling that gays and lesbians were entitled to marry. In what many see as a surprise move, they rejected a motion forwarded by conservative, Christian and anti-gay groups to overturn the law in Massachusetts that allows same-sex couples to tie the knot. The judges gave no reason for their decision. One lawmaker did comment, “The bottom line is, states are free to recognize same-sex marriages if they choose to.” C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League, which strongly opposes gay marriages, warned “This was one skirmish, one battle in a much larger issue.”

Supporters of gay marriage were delighted with their victory. It was widely believed that the year-old law, that has allowed 3,000 gay Massachusetts couples to wed, would be one of the first victims of President George W. Bush’s re-election. He won power with the support of the Christian right, and he promised to make anti-gay marriage laws a priority of his second term. Opponents of gay marriage will soon propose the creation of a Defense of Marriage Act that would allow marriage only between a man and woman. Further legal challenges to ban same-sex marriage are underway across America in an issue that greatly divides Americans.

POSSIBLE WARM UPS / COOL DOWNS

1. CHAT:  Talk in pairs or groups about Marriage, gay rights, same-sex weddings, homosexuality, American values…

2. ‘GAY’ ASSOCIATION: Ask students for their first-word reaction to the words ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’, homosexual’, ‘straight’, ‘same-sex marriage’ to gauge general feelings and to introduce some vocabualry

3. OTHER CULTURES: If you have a multi-cultural, multi-faith class, brainstorm how gay marriage is viewed in their countries and gauge the possibilities of a law passing that allows same-sex marriage.

4. 2-MINUTE DEBATES: Students face each other in pairs and engage in the following (for-fun) 2-minute debates. Students A are assigned the first argument, students B the second. Rotate pairs to ensure a lively pace and noise level is kept:
- Marriage should only be between a man and woman. vs. That’s an old way of thinking.
- Only God can decide who can get married. vs It’s OK for the courts to decide.
- Lesbian marriage is OK, but not gay marriage. vs What complete rubbish / trash / garbage.
- Gays who want to marry have the same legal rights as everyone else. vs. No they don’t.
- Accepting gay marriage shows society is modern and free. vs. All it shows is society is going downhill.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. ‘GAY’ WORD SEARCH: Students look in their dictionaries to find collocates, other meanings and synonyms of the words ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’. Later discuss why there are so many more for ‘gay’.

2. GETTING MARRIED: Students discuss the background and possible reasons behind the following verbs for getting married:
tie the knot / get hitched / settle down / wed / marry / take the plunge / walk down the aisle / sign one’s life away / splice / hook up with…
Discuss whether they portray a good image. Share the kinds of terms (translated into English) students have in their own cultures.

3. TRUE/FALSE: Students predict whether they believe the following statements about the article headline are true or false:
(a) The US Supreme Court decided not to intervene in a dispute over gay marriages.  T / F
(b)  The Supreme Court decision was not a surprise.  T / F
(c)  Conservative and Christian groups were happy with the decision.  T / F
(d)  3,000 gay couples got married in Massachusetts in the past year.  T / F
(e)  A Massachusetts law allows same-sex couples to tie the knot.  T / F
(f)  A leading Catholic said the battle to ban same-sex weddings is over.  T / F
(g)  George W. Bush is a big fan of same-sex marriage. T / F
(h)  Opponents of gay marriage want a law that would allow marriage only between a man and woman.  T / F
(i)  This issue greatly divides Americans.. T / F

4. PHRASE MATCH: Students match the following phrases based on the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL:  Put the missing words under each paragraph into the gaps.

U.S. Gay Marriage Victory

2. TRUE/FALSE:  Students check their answers to the T/F exercise.

3. PHRASE MATCH: Students check their answers to the word match exercise.

4. QUESTIONS: Students make notes for questions they would like to ask the class about the article.

5. VOCABULARY:  Students circle any words they do not understand. In groups pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find the meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. GAP-FILL: Check the answers to the gap-fill exercise.

2. QUESTIONS:  Students ask the discussion questions they thought of above to their partner / group / class. Pool the questions for all students to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. WOW:  Students tell each other about the things they circled. Introduce the following language
I thought / think it’s amazing / unreal / incredible / awesome … that …
I can’t believe   …
Wow, America / Bush / Massachusetts …
It’s [totally] [utterly] [completely] [totally, utterly and completely] amazing that …
I’m [shocked] [amazed] [not surprised] that …
[Opportunity to focus on emotional reactions / opinions]

5. STUDENT-GENERATED SURVEY: Pairs/Groups write down 3 questions based on the article. Conduct their surveys alone. Report back to partners to compare answers. Report to other groups / the whole class.

6. GAY OPINION: In pairs / groups, students discuss which of the following should be allowed:
- gay marriage
- gay parents
- gay bars
- gay teachers
- gay US President (or leader of your country)
- gay bus driver
- gay doctor
- gay parades
- gay bashing
- gay rights
- gay priests / bishops / rabbis / ministers…

7. GAY RIGHTS: Students create a charter outlining the rights of gays and lesbiansin their (imaginary) societies. Change partners and present the charter to the new partner who is a judge. Discuss which of the points on each charter is acceptable or not.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCAB EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or the Google search field to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on gay marriage. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. ‘GAY’ POSTER: Make a poster on the etymology, word families etc of the different senses of the word ‘gay’.

4. LETTER TO GEORGE: Write a letter to US President George W. Bush outlining your views on same sex marriage.

ANSWERS

TRUE/FALSE:
(a) The US Supreme Court decided not to intervene in a dispute over gay marriages.  T
(b)  The Supreme Court decision was not a surprise.  F
(c)  Conservative and Christian groups were happy with the decision.  F
(d)  3,000 gay couples got married in Massachusetts in the past year.  T
(e)  A Massachusetts law allows same-sex couples to tie the knot.  T
(f)  A leading Catholic said the battle to ban same-sex weddings is over.  F
(g)  George W. Bush is a big fan of same-sex marriage. F
(h)  Opponents of gay marriage want a law that would allow marriage only between a man and woman.  T
(i)  This issue greatly divides Americans.. T

PHRASE MATCH:

GAP FILL:

BNE: The US Supreme Court yesterday decided not to intervene in a dispute over gay marriages, ruling that gays and lesbians were entitled to marry. In what many see as a surprise move, they rejected a motion forwarded by conservative, Christian and anti-gay groups to overturn the law in Massachusetts that allows same-sex couples to tie the knot. The judges gave no reason for their decision. One lawmaker did comment, “The bottom line is, states are free to recognize same-sex marriages if they choose to.” C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League, which strongly opposes gay marriages, warned “This was one skirmish, one battle in a much larger issue.”
Supporters of gay marriage were delighted with their victory. It was widely believed that the year-old law, that has allowed 3,000 gay Massachusetts couples to wed, would be one of the first victims of President George W. Bush’s re-election. He won power with the support of the Christian right, and he promised to make anti-gay marriage laws a priority of his second term. Opponents of gay marriage will soon propose the creation of a Defense of Marriage Act that would allow marriage only between a man and woman. Further legal challenges to ban same-sex marriage are underway across America in an issue that greatly divides Americans.

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