Advance care planning is a vital step for every adult but LGBTQ+ Floridians often face unique hurdles when their wishes are not legally documented.
Osha Towers, LGBTQ+ engagement director for Compassion & Choices, explained how planning can ensure health care aligns with personal values and why some individuals may need extra safeguards. Towers shared the story of a colleague’s partner who passed away without advance directives, and his biological family excluded his chosen family from funeral arrangements.
“Immediately, his family swooped in and took over everything,” Towers recounted. “They cleaned out his house, they kept everyone from the funeral service and they buried him honoring a life that wasn’t true to who he was.”
To avoid similar outcomes, Towers recommended naming a health care proxy who respects your identity and reviewing documents annually. They also recommended seeking free resources such as the Advance Care Planning Toolkit their organization provides to help guide in the process.
Towers stressed that the simple step of having the conversation can prevent such situations while giving peace of mind.
“Really having these conversations early is crucial,” Towers emphasized. “I think it also takes away a huge weight off of individuals when they at least have an idea in their mind, OK, I feel some certainty, even if we haven’t talked about absolutely everything, but I feel certainty around this is what their values are.”
For LGBTQ+ individuals, the risks of not planning may be compounded by estrangement from biological family or health care discrimination. Hospices and legal aid groups often offer free notarization for advance directives.
Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 1, 2025.