The Attitudes Game

This game, based on an exercise by Phyllis Vos Wezeman in her book "Creating Compassion: Activities for Understanding HIV/AIDS", brings up some of the facts and myths regarding gay and lesbian people.

Students in turn pull a card from the pile (box, etc.) read it silently and decide if it is a fact or myth. After everyone has read his/her card, they can walk to opposite sides of the room, or sit in chairs lined up in rows opposite each other, one side for "Facts", the other for "Myths". Each students reads his/her card and tells the group why s/he came to that conclusion.

The cards should be prepared before class. Some possibilities for the cards are:

FACT CARDS
• there are many famous gay people in Western history
• in some countries gay people are put in prison or put to death for being gay
• gay and lesbian people contribute as much to society as non-gay people
• gay and lesbian people can be good parents
• gay people face a great deal of discrimination
• non-gay people have no fear of acceptance because of their sexual orientation
• a gay person in most countries cannot see his/her partner in the hospital in cases of emergency
• the majority of people with HIV worldwide are heterosexual*
• a gay person in most countries cannot inherit property from his/her partner even if they have been together for many years

MYTH CARDS
• there are no gay women (lesbians) in Japan
• there are no famous gay people in Japanese history
• all gay men like to wear women's clothes
• gay people have the same legal rights as non-gay people
• gay people think about sex more than non-gay people
• it's easy to see if someone is gay or lesbian
• gay people don't have regular jobs
• most people with HIV are gay*
• a non-gay person cannot talk freely about their husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend
• gay people's behavior is the reason why AIDS is a problem

This game could be used as a starting point for bringing out people's perceptions of what a gay person is like, stereotypes, etc. As the various opinions are expressed, ask where such images are found in society; on TV, in advertising, through vocabulary people use in a derogatory way (okama, etc.), through misinformation, rumor, etc. Encourage students to write their own facts and myths (and send them in to REN - we'll include them here!).

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* WHO estimates that 90% of HIV infected people are heterosexual.

RAINBOW EDUCATORS' NETWORK http://www2.gol.com/users/aidsed/rainbow/teaching/att.html