‘You Have the Right to Be Respected in Death, Just as in Life’:LGBTQ+ Funeral Providers in the UK – Pursuing Social Justice or the “Pink Pound”?

The funeral market is changing, adapting to increasing personalisation and diversification of ceremonies. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) people in the UK have increasing expectations of equitable service delivery, including in relation to funerals. However, they experience inequalities in palliative and end-of-life care, and anticipate associated barriers to equitable funeral provision. Concerns relate to funeral providers’ actual/potential heteronormative and cisnormative assumptions; sexuality and or gender identity invalidation; same-sex relationship non-recognition, and discounting of ‘families of choice’. These concerns are heightened regarding family of origin, who are not LGBTQ+ accepting. This article analyses UK websites marketing LGBTQ+ funeral services. Using queer and feminist approaches to death equity, and Nancy Fraser’s model of social justice, it argues that these funeral services constitute both pursuit of the ‘pink pound’ and resistance to heteronormative and cisnormative funeral traditions. The article proposes research agenda to explore these issues in greater depth.