Queer death studies

Queer death studies (QDS) was founded by Nina Lykke, Marietta Radomska, Tara Mehrabi, Annika Jonsson, Line Henriksen and Varpu Alasuutari at the Swedish National Gender Research Conference in Linköping in November 2016. The goal of QDS is to serve as a site for 'queering' the traditional ways of dealing with and approaching death and mourning practices. It looks to the word 'queer' as both a process and a methodology when considering going outside of the norms of death practices. QDS looks at researching and narrating death, dying, and mourning in a queer context, considering the uniqueness of queer bonds and communities. Queer Death Studies draws specific attention to variations in death, dying, and mourning due to heteronormativity. QDS deals with the problems of traditional Death Studies by analyzing death, dying, and mourning in a critical way, questioning the ethics of it all. 'Queer' is considered both a process and a methodology. QDS is a transdisciplinary, queer feminist study that focuses on the three main themes of death, dying, and mourning. They want to highlight non-normative practices of mourning, preparing for death, mourning, and queer (necro)politics.

Themes

Preparing for death and dying

Preparing for death is a difficult task, especially for queer people, with some regions making it more difficult than others. Many LGBTQ people are in common-law or defacto relationships, civil partnerships, or civil unions. Power of attorney is essential in these situations when preparing for death. With the rise of gay marriage becoming legalized, this has become less of an issue. The next step of preparing for death is often considered to be the will. This is a unique experience for queer because of typically complicated familial relationships (not always). Many queer people debate between family members, partner(s), and friends.

Advanced care is also becoming popular, it is so their end-of-life plan can be managed by someone else once the dying can no longer do so, an example would be not wanting to be force-fed, and the person dedicated to taking care of the plan should honor these wishes.

AIDS/HIV

AIDS/HIV has had a large effect on QDS, it brought it to light. It brought familiarity with death to the queer community. Many people lost friends, family, and partners to the AIDS epidemic, and it brought information forward about end-of-life care and preparation.

Queer ecology

There are a number of themes reflected on in QDS, and one of them is queer ecology and green burials, which are more ecologically friendly than traditional Western burial practices. Queer ecology's of death have a lot to do with QDS, it is concerned with suggesting new forms of thinking about agency, (non)human and (non)living. Feminist-queer theories have a long history of criticizing Western culture's heteronormative assumptions of nature, bodies and animals. Due to heteronormativity, many queer people have poor experiences with funeral homes and hospice, which has led to an uprising of at-home burials.

Green burials

This has also led to green burials, also known as natural burials. The goal of this is to leave a minimal environmental impact on the environment via burial practices. The simplistic practice of "dust to dust" has become very appealing to some. It is a way for people to feel more connected to nature. This has become very appealing to many queer people who find traditional burial practices don't suit them. QDS asks us to rethink the relationship between humans and non-humans in terms of ecosystems and tells us that we are all interconnected.

Mourning

Mourning is an essential part of death, it can mask itself as depression or personal failure. This is especially important because grieving is often particularly difficult for marginalized people groups. It is mentioned that due to the communal nature of the LGBTQ community, they can usually mourn together.

Mourning is often a unique experience for queer people, especially if it is family related, considering it isn't uncommon for LGBTQ+ people to have poor familial relationships. QDS disrupts the norms of mourning. For example, Anne Bettina Pedersen reflects on her experience mourning her estranged mother. Typically, no matter what, it is expected to have unconditional compassion for a parent. It's seen as taboo not to feel that way, but she dives into the reality of conflicting emotions. Pedersen suggests, "denial of care for an estranged parent translates into self-care and self-preservation". QDS breaks down the heteronormative narrative for grief and mourning, giving space for queer people to have their own experience with these heavy emotions.

Social media mourning

It's also important to note that there has been a lot of activism regarding queer mourning on social media and various online platforms. Their intention is to be politically active and productive regarding what Judith Butler calls "un/grievable lives." They argue that public mourning versus private mourning brings forth the brutality of violent queer deaths. This publicity has allowed for an even stronger community, crossing borders and creating solidarity.

Queer-Necropolitics

Queer-necropolitics looks at the lack of rights and support surrounding the LGBTQ+ community while considering necropolitics. This originates from the focus on why QDS is important, the roots of genocide, mass murders, and indigenous people's deaths. Colonialism had a massive effect on how we deal with our deceased. Through the study of Queer-Necropolitics, they attempt to view death as more than a transformation or an end; they view it as bringing life.