Queer Pet Loss: Grieving Companion Animals

Join us in person at Boyfriend Coop and Cafe for a heartfelt gathering on navigating the unique experience of grieving pets in the queer community. It's a safe space to share stories, find support, and honor the special bonds with our furry friends. Come as you are and connect with others who understand.
This session will explore:

• Attachment theory and bonds with animals
• Anticipatory grief and euthanasia decisions
• Rituals for honoring companion animals that have passed
• How to navigate welcoming new pets into your home following loss
• Navigating invalidating responses from others following the loss of one’s pet

Upon registration, participants will be invited to submit anonymous reflections or specific themes they hope to explore. This input will shape the tone, questions, and tools offered in each gathering.

The 90-minute session will generally follow this arc:

1. Welcome + grounding practice
2. Short reading and conceptual framing on grief subtype
3. Guided discussion questions to support meaningful dialogue
4. Skill-building tool or exercise
5. Closing reflection ritual

This is not therapy. It is facilitated peer support grounded in best practices in grief education and collective care.

About the Gather & Grieve Series
Gather & Grieve is a small-group series for queer and trans adults centered on disenfranchised grief, a term for losses that society does not fully recognize or support.

Each session explores a specific form of disenfranchised grief: the loss of a pet or companion animal, body grief, and reproductive grief. These are losses that carry real weight and elicit complex emotional responses, yet are often minimized, misunderstood, or left without communal space for healing.

This series is designed to change that. Through structured, compassionate facilitation, participants will have space to name what they're carrying and process it in community, with others who get it.

After registering, each participant will be invited to share a bit about their needs with the facilitator, helping to shape the experience so it feels relevant and supportive for everyone in the room.

This series is designed and facilitated by end of life doula and grief education Hannah Yore.

Mary Oliver and Percy. (Photo © 2005 by Rachel Giese Brown.)

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Host or Publisher Yore Doula