Homophobia endures in our time of changing attitudes: a ‘field’ perspective

"Abstract: This paper addresses the experience of homophobia from a field theoretical perspective, one of the epistemological foundations of Gestalt therapy. It seeks to redefine homophobia as a field event, thus challenging the prevailing conceptualisation of internalised homophobia. The Gestalt field perspective that is most applicable in understanding the phenomenon of homophobia in our intricate person-to-person encounters is clarified. This field is a shared, complex, differentiated, phenomenal field. Some aspects of the shared phenomenal field that tend to be present, lurking for attention, are revealed. These include: the pervasiveness of homophobia; the reductionism of sexuality to sex; practitioners’ responsibility to enquire into their own sexualities; strategies to make shame tolerable; and therapist self-disclosure. Key words: homophobia, sexuality, lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) persons, shared phenomenal field, self."