INDIANAPOLIS — Losing a loved one can be hard for anyone.
But local funeral director Alex Adams noticed that one particular community here in Central Indiana faces additional obstacles to the grieving process.
Adams is a certified celebrant and spends her time helping Hoosiers through the mourning process.
She says LGBTQ folks have a hard time finding grief spaces that are affirming of their identities.
“A lot of queer people carry a lot of hurt on a regular basis just from coming out journeys, our family experiences and things like that. With grief, we carry a lot of that pain with us, in addition to the pain we feel when we lose someone," Adams said.
All her life, Adam’s “person” was her ‘pop.’
“He was truly my biggest support. From the time that I came out, through my wedding and then the birth of my children, he was the constant," Adams said.
Her grandfather passed away in October 2022.
After his death, she tried going to grief support groups.
Each week she felt as though she had to justify her thoughts, feelings and place in the space.
When she sought out a queer specific-place to grieve, she realized it didn’t exist in Central Indiana.
So she decided to created Indianapolis Queer Grief Community — an organization committed to providing safe and affirming spaces for LGBTQ Hoosiers.
“We have a very strong, loving supportive community right here in Indy that you can reach out to. I am more than happy to be the connector. If you just need someone to reach out to, send us a message and we’ll get you connected in one way or another," Adams said.
Adams launched the Instagram page on November 1 of last year.
Within hours, dozens of people’s sent messages saying how much this resource is needed and expressed their gratitude.
Queer Grief Indy is providing support primarily in two ways.
- Grief in Color — a six week, queer-specific, grief support group. That will run four times a year, with eight members.
- More than a dozen community events, including a book club called Reading Rainbows.
“The idea is that there will always be a place where people who are grieving and are queer feel safe to show up and explore and tackle their grief journey," she said.
Grief in Color will begin on February 4.
The book club will begin on February 17.
