Spain has passed a new law to legalize same sex marriages. It becomes the fourth country to do so after Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands. The new law is very popular with the Spanish people: around 70 per cent of Spaniards support legalizing gay marriage. However, the Catholic Church is very angry that the law was passed. It tried very hard to block the legalizing of same sex marriages. The new law gives homosexual partners the same status as heterosexual ones. They will soon be able to adopt children and have inheritance rights.

The vote in the 350-seat Spanish Congress passed smoothly. Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero sponsored the law. Supporters of the bill were overjoyed when they heard the news. They happily hugged and kissed each other outside the Congress building, while some cried with happiness. Fernando Martinez was smiling from ear to ear. He said: The unfairness has come to an end. Society, at last, accepts us for who we are. We are normal people who want to lead normal lives.” The first marriages of gay couples will begin on July 15.

WARM-UPS

1. MARRIAGE: In pairs / groups, make a list of all of the advantages of getting married. Change partners and compare your lists. When you have finished, talk about whether same sex couples should be allowed to get married. Should they be able to experience each of the advantages on your list - the same as in marriages between men and women? Take a class vote on whether same sex marriages should be legalized in your country.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Spain / same sex marriages / public opinion / the Catholic Church / heterosexual people / adopting children / hugs and kisses / gay rights / normal people

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

3. HOMOSEXUAL: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “homosexual”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

4. TWO-MINUTE GAY DEBATES: With a partner, take part in these fun 2-minute debates. Students A strongly believe in the opinions on the left, Students B support the opinions on the right. Change partners often.

1. Gay people are not normal. vs. Gay people are as normal as anyone else.
2. Homosexuality is a sin against God. vs. That’s 2,000-year-old nonsense.
3. Same sex marriage is totally natural. vs. Marriage is between men and women.
4. Gay partners are loving parents. vs. Children need a mother and a father.
5. Society isn’t ready for same sex marriage. vs. This is the 21^st century.
6. Inequality against gay couples must end now. vs. It can never end.
7. Gay people should never kiss in public. vs. Don’t be so ridiculous.
8. Gay people should not be allowed to join the army. vs. Gay people can fight.

5. SAME SEX SOCIETY: In pairs / groups, talk about which of these things are “OK” for same sex partners to do in your society.

Get married Kiss in public Adopt children Hold hands in public Live together

Tell people they are a gay couple Wear matching clothes Join the army together Inherit property Other

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Spain is the first country in the world to legalize same sex marriage.	T / F
b.	Most Spanish people disagree with same sex marriage.	T / F
c.	The Catholic Church said it accepted same sex marriage.	T / F
d.	Spain’s new law allows same sex partners to adopt children.	T / F
e.	The new law was passed after many, many difficulties.	T / F
f.	The Spanish Prime Minister disagreed with the new law.	T / F
g.	A happy Spanish man was smiling from chin to forehead.	T / F
h.	Same sex partners can get married from as early as July 15.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	passed	finally
b.	support	thrilled
c.	block	favor (USA) favour (UK)
d.	the same	grinning
e.	heterosexual	equal
f.	smoothly	adopted
g.	overjoyed	straight
h.	smiling	inequality
i.	unfairness	stop
j.	at last	easily

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	Spain has passed	children
b.	the fourth country to	to an end
c.	70 per cent of Spaniards	do so
d.	adopt	will begin on July 15
e.	inheritance	law
f.	Zapatero sponsored the	support legalizing gay marriage
g.	cried	a new law
h.	unfairness has come	normal lives
i.	lead	rights
j.	marriages of gay couples	with happiness

WHILE READING / LISTENING

WHICH WORD?: Circle the correct word from the pairs in bold.

Spain legalizes same sex marriage

Spain has passed / past a new law to legalize same sex marriages. It becomes the fourth country to do so / soon after Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands. The new law is very unpopular / popular with the Spanish people: around 70 per cent of Spaniards support legalizing gay marriage. However, the Catholic Church is very angrily / angry that the law was passed. It tried very hard to block / black the legalizing of same sex marriages. The new law gives homosexual partners the same status / statues as heterosexual ones. They will soon be able to adapt / adopt children and have inheritance rights / wrongs.

The vote in the 350-seat Spanish Congress passed smoothly / smooth. Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero sponsorship / sponsored the law. Supporters of the bill were joy / overjoyed when they heard the news. They happily / unhappily hugged and kissed each other outside the Congress building, while some cried with happiness. Fernando Martinez was smiling from ear to chin / ear. He said: The unfairness has come to an end / over. Society, at last, accepts us for who we are. We are normal people who want to lead / plead normal lives.” The last / first marriages of gay couples will begin on July 15.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘gay’ and ‘marriage’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. WHICH WORD?: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about any relationships you can see in each pair of words.

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT SAME SEX SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about same sex marriage.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

new popular support block status inheritance

smoothly sponsored overjoyed ear accepts normal

 DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. What did you think when you saw this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the story?
3. What are your feelings about this story?
4. Do you agree with same sex marriages?
5. Do you think your country will accept same sex marriages?
6. Do you think gay people should have the same rights as straight people?
7. Do you think gay couples should be allowed to adopt children?
8. Why are there no kissing scenes between gay couples in movies?
9. What would you think if your child wanted a same sex marriage?
10. Do you think the Catholic Church should change?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What did you think about what you read?
3. What do you think about gay people?
4. Do you think its OK for gay couples to kiss in public on the street?
5. Have you ever been to a gay bar or gay festival?
6. Do you think the Bible and other holy books are out of date?
7. Do you think attending a same sex wedding would be different from attending a wedding between a man and a woman?
8. What do you think about the words “homosexual”, “gay” and “lesbian”?
9. If a married gay man became President of the USA, would his partner be the “First Gentleman”?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

ROLE PLAY: This role play is to discuss whether or not same sex marriages should become law. Team up with classmates who have the same role as you. Develop your roles and discuss ideas and “strategies” before the role play begins.

Introduce yourself to the other role players before the role play begins.

Role A You have been with your same sex partner for ten years. You want to stay with your partner for the rest of your life. You have bought a house together. You want children. When you die, you want all of your money to go to your partner. You believe the Bible and other holy books are out of date.

Role B You are a top church official. You believe marriage is between a man and a woman only. You believe there can be no such thing as a marriage between a man and a man or a woman and a woman. You think same sex marriages will damage children’s young minds. The holy books say homosexuality is a sin.

Role C You are the owner of a wedding planning company. You really hope same sex marriages become law in your country. It would be great for your business. You don’t believe in any God. You don’t think it’s important what it says in holy books. You think marriage between any two people is a wonderfully happy thing.

Role D You are very upset. Your lover of ten years has just run off with another partner of the same sex. You didn’t know your partner was homosexual. You suddenly dislike homosexual people. You cannot accept same sex marriages because it might mean your ex-partner might get married to his / her new love.

Change roles and repeat the role play. Comment in groups about the differences between the two role plays.

In pairs / groups, discuss whether you really believe in what you said while you were in your roles.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Spain legalizes same sex marriage

Spain has ______ __ ___ ___ to legalize same sex marriages. It becomes the fourth country __ __ __ after Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands. The new law is very popular with the Spanish people: ______ __ ___ ____ of Spaniards support legalizing gay marriage. However, the Catholic Church is very angry that the law was passed. It tried very ____ __ _____ the legalizing of same sex marriages. The new law gives homosexual partners ___ ____ ______ as heterosexual ones. They will soon be able to _____ ________ and have inheritance rights.

The vote in the ___-____ Spanish Congress passed smoothly. Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero _________ ___ ____. Supporters of the bill ____ _________ when they heard the news. They _______ ______ and kissed each other outside the Congress building, while some cried with happiness. Fernando Martinez was smiling ____ ___ __ ___. He said: The unfairness has come to an end. Society, at last, accepts us for who we are. We are normal people who want to ___ ______ _____.” The first marriages of gay couples ____ _____ __ July 15.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

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

3. INEQUALITY: Create a fact sheet about the inequality faced by homosexuals and same sex couples in your society. What rights don’t they have that “normal” citizens enjoy? Show  your fact sheets to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

4. LETTER: Write a letter to Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Tell him your opinions on his government passing same sex marriages into law. Read your letter to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. F

d. T

e. F

f. F

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	passed	adopted
b.	support	favor (USA) favour (UK)
c.	block	stop
d.	the same	equal
e.	heterosexual	straight
f.	smoothly	easily
g.	overjoyed	thrilled
h.	smiling	grinning
i.	unfairness	inequality
j.	at last	finally

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	Spain has passed	a new law
b.	the fourth country to	do so
c.	70 per cent of Spaniards	support legalizing gay marriage
d.	adopt	children
e.	inheritance	rights
f.	Zapatero sponsored the	law
g.	cried	with happiness
h.	unfairness has come	to an end
i.	lead	normal lives
j.	marriages of gay couples	will begin on July 15

WHICH WORD?:

Spain legalizes same sex marriage

Spain has passed a new law to legalize same sex marriages. It becomes the fourth country to do so after Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands. The new law is very popular with the Spanish people: around 70 per cent of Spaniards support legalizing gay marriage. However, the Catholic Church is very angry that the law was passed. It tried very hard to block the legalizing of same sex marriages. The new law gives homosexual partners the same status as heterosexual ones. They will soon be able to adopt children and have inheritance rights.

The vote in the 350-seat Spanish Congress passed smoothly. Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero sponsored the law. Supporters of the bill were overjoyed when they heard the news. They happily hugged and kissed each other outside the Congress building, while some cried with happiness. Fernando Martinez was smiling from ear to ear. He said: The unfairness has come to an end. Society, at last, accepts us for who we are. We are normal people who want to lead normal lives.” The first marriages of gay couples will begin on July 15.

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