The persistence of the past: legacies of homophobia in a gay male therapy dyad

In our current moment of legalized same-sex marriage and other advances for gay rights, gay people would seem to have much to celebrate. Yet not all feel like celebrating. Some of us would like to look away from the damage done to us by homophobia as we look forward to the lives we may be able to lead in a more equitable, less hostile society. Yet others find the damage hard to forget. This paper is about a clash of subjectivities between a gay male therapist and his gay male patient, one trying to look toward a better future, the other determined not to forget the past.