A Narrative Inquiry into the Formation of Parents' Identity of Their Children with Sexual Minority

Objectives The main purpose of this study is to explore the process through which parents of sexual Minority form a new sense of identity after their children come out, and to understand the meaning of that experience. Methods To achieve this, a narrative inquiry method was applied in order to explore the experiences and meanings of coming out from their sexual Minority in a natural and voluntary storytelling manner. In-depth interviews were conducted with four parents of sexual Minority. Based on the research data, the study explores the continuity and reciprocity of the experiences before and after the coming out of their sexual Minority, and categorizes the narratives of the participants into themes metaphorically, constructing the identities of parents of sexual Minority. Results The findings of the study are mainly composed of two parts: First, in terms of the continuity of the narrative, the metaphor of weather was applied to chronologically organize the experiences before and after the coming out of their sexual Minority. Second, the metaphor of a lantern was used to explore the meaning of the participants' identity formation experiences, and the narratives were organized with metaphorical elements such as “the seed of life in the darkness,” “the light of hope,” “guidance and protection,” “wisdom and enlightenment,” “peace and harmony,” and “eternal life.” Conclusions Based on the results of this study, it is expected to provide practical foundational data for educational and counseling practices related to parents of sexual Minority.