ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the painful experiences of external and internal homophobia for an adolescent boy and his poignant use of the analytic setting to begin to name and claim his sexuality. It discusses aspects of author's experience with this boy in relation to the impact of homophobia within psychoanalytic developmental theories. The chapter conveys that the patient's increasing elaboration of a gay identity is part of the excitement of adolescent developments. It presents a clinical material, which intended as one lens through which the people may consider the effects of homophobia, their internalization, how they become entangled with intrapsychic processes, and the protective but harmful measures used to handle rejection. The chapter discusses the multiple areas in which Mario has experienced homophobia: with peers, with potential romantic partners, with his father and in society. It also conveys the way that my concerns regarding 'normativity' led at times to a cautious exploration of this boy's sexuality.
