ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a therapeutic conversation with a young gay Muslim man and his brother which was shaped by the definitional ceremony metaphor. Definitional ceremonies provide a therapeutic arena for the performance of the preferred narratives of people's lives, identities, and relationships. In this therapeutic arena, Jamil invited his brother to witness a performance of the stories of his life. Enquiries into Jamil's intentions and hopes led to richer descriptions and explanations of why he was living his life in certain ways. Then, and only then, did Hassan have the chance to join the stories of his life with those of his brother. The backdrop was a deconstruction of certain 'games of truth', including the dominant cultural ideas about homosexuality and 'queerying' the concept of coming out. Shannon Woodcock identifies as an 'Australian ethnic woman who desires women'. Her paper discusses the globalisation of the same-sex politics and the queer rights movement.
