Happy Pride 2021! In celebration of Pride Month, we reached out to our community for their go-to picks for 2SLGBTQ+ end of life and death care resources. Their recommendations are compiled below. A big thank you to all of the contributors!
The acronym “2SLGBTQ” stands for Two-Spirit (2S), lesbian (L), gay (G), bisexual (B), transgender (T), queer (Q). The plus sign represents other sexual identities, such as pansexual or asexual.
If you are working with a client or family who are part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, it's important to use proper pronouns. The UC Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center has published a helpful Guide To Pronouns for Allies. They also offer comprehensive LGBTQIA Ally Tips which help to improve support, respect and inclusiveness of everyone.
Proud, Prepared, and Protected is a collection of online resources to assist people who identify as 2SLGBTQ+ to access and receive inclusive, respectful care. These resources were developed by people who identify as Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ and more than 40 organizations and Canadian Virtual Hospice to fill a national gap. This information is also helpful for allies, people working in healthcare and education and communities.
We can't say enough about what a great resource this is. It includes information on the Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ Canadian Healthcare Bill of Rights and Advance Care Planning, as well as helpful videos and articles. Canadian Virtual Hospice also published a Literature Review & Environmental Scan of The 2SLGBTQ+ Population and Palliative and End of Life Care report in 2019 that aims to identify the information and support needs of caregivers 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
In “Documenting Death,” a couple who work in palliative care take to social media to share their experiences after one of them receives a terminal diagnosis. The short documentary tells the story of Kim Acquaviva and her wife, Kathy Brandt, who died of cancer in 2019, at the age of fifty-four. Brandt was a hospice and palliative-care consultant and an advocate for high-quality end-of-life care; when she received her diagnosis, she and Acquaviva, a professor of nursing at the University of Virginia and an expert in end-of-life issues for LGBTQ individuals and their families, decided to document Brandt’s decline, and their family’s last days together, through frank and frequent social-media posts.
This is the handbook for hospice and palliative care professionals looking to enhance their care delivery or their programs with LGBTQ-inclusive care. Anchored in the evidence, extensively referenced, and written in clear, easy-to-understand language, LGBTQ-Inclusive Hospice and Palliative Care provides clear, actionable strategies for hospice and palliative physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors, and chaplains.
Author Kimberly Acquaviva (yes, that's the same Kim Acquaviva from Documenting Death) is a tenured faculty member at the George Washington University School of Nursing. She is a Certified Sexuality Educator (CSE) through AASECT (American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists).
SFU's LGBT End-of-Life Conversations site offers an in-depth resource centre for end-of-life issues called LGBT End-of-Life Conversations, including an extensive list of regional resources specific to cities and provinces across Canada. The "Hiding who I am - the reality of end of life care for LGBT people" report explores key end of life issues facing the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Canada. Well worth reading.
Vancouver-based mortuary student Toni King-Rose runs @transdeathcare on Instagram. We love the content and resources they share, which range from podcast recommendations to end-of-life planning tips and more... and they are Canadian too! 
Please get in touch if you have any other resources to share. Thanks!