International Day Against Homophobia And Transphobia

• OverviewA video about the every-day life of an ordinary couple. But are they really? This video lesson makes students think about love, relationships and marriage in the context of same-sex relationships.
• Resources neededprojector or TV, internet access for YouTube
• External Resources YouTube video
  Video Duration (mins) 1:55
• Related Topicsacceptance, gay, gender, marriage equality, relationships, same-sex, tolerance
  Level/ContextintermediateThis also depends on the tasks you set.

Watching the video

• You can present the video in as many stages as you want, but make sure you stop it at 1:35.
• You can use my videojemmy task if you want the video to automatically stop at certain points.

Tell students they are about to see a video about the every-day moments of a couple. Ask them to brainstorm about the possible things they might do together and make them agree on 10 things in small groups.

Watch the video until about 1 minute. Make students tick activities they were right about.

Now ask students to describe the personality of the man they can see in the video. What is he like?

Highlight, that the video was taken by the other half of the couple. Watch the video again until 1:30 and make students come up with adjectives to describe the other person. Be especially careful to avoid using any pronouns (he/she).

Tell students that you stopped the video at a key moment in the couple’s story. Ask them to predict what is going to happen. After listening to their ideas, play the video for 5 more seconds (until 1:35). Elicit words like marriage, propose, get married (depending on your students’ level). Ask students more questions e.g. Is the other person going to say yes?

Continue watching until the end and let students realise the identity of the other person.

Follow-up activities

Verbalise feelings: Make students verbalise their feelings about the video. Elicit words like surprised, astonished, stunned, dumbfounded, at a loss for words, thunderstruck (depending on your students’ level).

Discussion: Discuss questions like: Is same-sex marriage legal in your country? / Do you think same-sex couples should have the right to get married? / Do you know any same-sex couples from real life or from TV?

Additional resources

• You can find additional resources at the IDAHOT website.
• Additional ads featuring same-sex couples on YouTube.

Created by László Hajba, from the GISIG committee.