Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee in Illinois unanimously passed HB 3552, which is an amendment to the Disposition of Remains Act which would allow transgender people to provide written instructions to the person charged with the responsibility for carrying out the decedent's funeral and disposition of remains to ensure that said transgender person's identity is respected.
Specifically, the directions may include instructions pertaining to appearance, chosen name, and gender pronouns.
Many transgender people face rejection by or isolation from their next of kin, or they fear stigmatization due to their gender identity or expression.
Some transgender people do not reveal their transgender status due to concerns about discrimination, harassment, and violence. This measure, through a simple legal change, will provide solace to transgender people facing end of life, in that it will ensure that their names and genders are respected after death.
--Alison Gill, Human Rights Campaign
The bill would allow the person to determine...
Their appearance in the casket ... chosen name the appropriate gender pronouns they prefer. So it's a small provision to that effect but it has a big effect in that it'll ensure respect for the person's wishes ... it'll provide solace to a transgender person for end of life decisions.
--Mike Ziri, Equality Illinois
Ziri says the LGBT community already faces significant challenges during their lifetime and should not have to fight over their appearance in the casket and how they will be referred to in memorial services.
The move comes six months after a transgender women from Idaho, who had died of a brain aneurysm,
was buried by her family as a man and under her birth name.
In her place, friends found Geoffrey Charles Gable wearing a striped suit at Magic Valley Funeral Home, her hair cut short, according to photos obtained by the Daily News, and an obituary that skipped a decade of her life transitioning to Jennifer.
What her parents have done is just a horrible thing.
She would not have wanted to relive the horrible life of Geoffrey. There was a lot of bigotry from her family and I don’t even think they talked to her anymore.
She wouldn’t want to be buried that way.
--Brandan Klosterman, friend of Jennifer
Jennifer Gable had legally changed her name but even her death certificate listed her as a man.
In 2014 California became the first state to pass a law requiring that death certificates reflect transgender person's gender identity.