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Rainbow Underground

Rainbow Underground

Date: Apr 25 2006

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

They’re sharp dressers, good listeners, and high wage-earners – and they’re all around you. How do you feel about that?

For the past few years, homosexuality and gay rights have been the hot topic in the U.S. Some states have banned gay marriage, while others support it.

With successful movies like Brokeback Mountain debunking common stereotypes of the gay lifestyle, Americans are beginning to get a better understanding of what it means to be gay. But still, why are people in the U.S. and around the world so against homosexuality?

Listen to Kevin and Dave talk about homosexuality around the world.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Dave

Dave

Kevin

Kevin

Dave:  Brokeback Mountain, have you bought that yet? It’s out on dvd now, right?

Kevin:  I haven’t but I’m going to buy it because it’s really important to support it.

Dave:  Has it been released in other cities around the world?

Kevin:  Yeah, it was released in Thailand. Um, it’s been released in a lot of places. It’s done very well.

Dave:  So, like, the U.S., there was a lot of backlash to it, right? A lot of countries are more liberal in sexuality than the U.S.

Kevin:  Well, Western Europe, of course. Outside of that, though. I mean, a number of Asian countries, but, you know, it was banned in China, for example.

Dave:  Oh, was it?

Kevin:  Yeah, they won’t show it in China.

Dave:  Oh! Well, when we were in Japan, I mean, what was difficult about being gay in Japan?

Kevin:  Well, specifically, I remember my boss asking multiple times if I had a girlfriend, when I thought it was obvious after two, three times, responding and sort of laughing to that question, she might get it.

Dave:  Yeah.

Kevin:  But, I think, in Japan there’s a sense that it almost doesn’t exist. You know, it’s in questions like “Well, when did you decide to be gay?” You know, as if you just woke up and “I’ll be gay today!”

 

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Discussion

Many people believe that homosexuality is unnatural and immoral. However, homosexuality is common among many species, including apes, penguins, bulls and sheep.

Still, many people see same-sex love as wrong. In the U.S., 11 states have made gay marriages illegal. A few states, such as Vermont, Massachusetts and California have taken steps to support gay rights.

What do you think about homosexuality? Does your country support or condemn same-sex love?

 

Comments

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trailo_hathanh

Viet Nam

My country does not support the homosexuality.People condemn it. The government banned it. It mean that they not allow the same-sex to get marriage. 

Actually, it is not many people homosexuality in my country. I don't know why. In Thailand, it many. Could anyone explain the question that why some country homosexual many and some country is not?

03:45 AM Feb 17 2011 |

miss_eos

miss_eos

Viet Nam

I'm not really familiar with this definition. It's probably because same-sex love is not around in my country and same-sex marriage is something illegal. We are always in for traditional families. From my point of view, however, homosexuality should be supported for some reasons. 

02:56 AM Feb 13 2011 |

Cyrilisims

Cyrilisims

France

Great talk! It's also very debated in our American civilization classes.

10:55 PM Dec 06 2008 |

quarryman

South Korea

I can hardly get the last part of this conversation. Is Keven G or not? Just curious..

07:46 AM Apr 25 2006 |

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