Kates-Boylston hosts the Advances in Funeral Innovations conference Nov. 12-13 in Houston. Over the course of two days, attendees will hear about some emerging trends and best practices for running their operations.

Click here for complete show notes.

In this episode, we speak with University of Cincinnati professor of social work Jennifer Wright-Berryman, a seasoned mental health and suicide prevention researcher with a long-standing commitment to improving understanding of the death-care experience for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. During her extensive research, she discovered a scarcity of resources and support specifically directed towards LGBTQIA+ individuals.

Her efforts include analyzing the websites of funeral homes to identify those that had explicit signaling that they welcomed LGBTQIA+ individuals. Based on that work, Wright Berryman and her colleagues are developing a website that evaluates funeral homes and lists those that are LGBTQIA+ friendly.

Their work aims to ensure everyone has access to dignified and inclusive death care services without fear of discrimination. In this episode, we discuss the recently launched website, EqualDeathCare.org, and the scope of this project, which includes a directory of verified LGBTQIA+ friendly funeral homes. https://www.equaldeathcare.org

Selected quotes from the episode

Educating Funeral Homes: They say, ‘I never thought that I would need to put something on my funeral home website that signaled, whether it be a little pride flag or a graphic of a same-sex couple holding hands.’ They’ve never really given much thought to the fact that not signaling could mean that someone may not walk in your front door because they fear discrimination.

Rising Mortician Classes: This new cohort of mortuary science students that are coming up are going to be savvy with technology. They’re going to be savvy with their values envisioned around who their customers can be and who their customers are.

Inclusive Partnerships: If you’re not listed (on the directory), that means that either A. we haven’t found you yet (and please reach out to us because we would be happy to have a discussion about putting you on the website), or B. your website isn’t clear enough.

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Show Web Page: https://www.kates-boylston.com/podcast/

Welcome to the latest edition of ICYMI from Funeral Service Insider. As always, we are here to keep you informed about the latest happenings and trends within the funeral industry. Here's what we have on deck this week:

A Big "What If?': In case you missed the last podcast, we spoke with Tyler Anderson of Precoa about treating your website like you treat your funeral home.

Bought not Closed: Whether you're Park Lawn or a sole owner, keeping the public informed about transitions is also a chance to remind them who you are.

More Transitions: A new GM at a family funeral home and an owner celebrates becoming an employee.

A Win in Court: The Las Vegas, New Mexico, City Council voted to uphold the planning and zoning committee's decision to allow Gonzales Funeral Home to install a crematory attached to its existing building.

Crematory Fined: A Breckinridge Circuit Court judge imposed the maximum civil penalty against Cloverport Funeral Home and Kentuckiana Funeral Service.

Click here for all the ICYMI stories from Funeral Service Insider.