Parents/Guardians’ Role in Children’s LGBTQ+ Identity Privacy Management in the Family

For LGBTQ + children and their parents/guardians, the co-management process of private information within the family network can be complex. We interviewed 15 parents of LGBTQ + children to understand the ways parents and children managed LGBTQ + identity-related information with other family members. Through phronetic iterative data analysis, we identified the disclosure approaches of a child’s LGBTQ + identity, the criteria by which parents and children created new privacy rules, the boundary management processes, and the confidant dilemma parents encountered as co-owners of their child’s information. Theoretically, our findings highlight the challenges of co-ownership, particularly when owners of private information have different roles in the family, are unsupported, and/or encounter boundary turbulence. Practically, we emphasize the importance of continual shared boundary setting between parents and LGBTQ + children as they jointly manage private information.