This presentation will speak to LGBTIQA+ experiences of bereavement, and the supports offered through Switchboard’s Bereavement Program. It will focus on supporting LGBTIQA+ community led responses to suicide loss and Switchboard’s Leadership in LGBTQIA+ Suicide Postvention within community and partnering organisations.
To do this, we focus our presentation through our Remembering Rainbow, a living memorial in tribute to LGBTIQA+ loved ones who have died by suicide. Established to provide a physical and symbolic place for community to participate in shared grief and loss, the Remembering Rainbow offers a space for collective ritual, where community can add a ribbon to the Rainbow for an LGBTQIA+ loved one they have lost, and to know there is a shared place for us to grieve.
The Remembering Rainbow is also a creative space that allows us to access parts of ourselves that can be safe, provides opportunity for expression, provides an avenue for community who are often locked out of memorial spaces due to finances or family of origin decision-making, and can provide a shared representation of a person’s life. An important part of processing experiences of grief and loss is to have our loss acknowledged by others. Building collective ritual for a community experiencing loss allows our pain to be seen by those around us.
Ritual can also help provide leadership in spaces where people can come together to reflect, remember and help to create open and safe sharing spaces after a loss. The Remembering Rainbow is testament to our communities and our enduring collective legacies.