The Disenfranchised Bereavement: How the Familistic Death Administration Excludes Gay Men in Contemporary China

This article examines research on “disenfranchised bereavement” as a fundamental concept for understanding the bereavement experiences of gay men, drawing upon Zhu Zhe’s account within the Chinese context. It is demonstrated that China’s death administration system is familistic, designating family members from heterosexual marriages as the only legitimate agents, thereby denying same-sex partners the rights to manage after-death arrangements and inherit assets. This family-centered system conflicts with the reality of diverse intimate relationships today, exacerbating the suffering during bereavement. This issue is not unique to same-sex couples but is encountered by all individuals who choose not to adhere to traditional family structures. It cannot be resolved merely by expanding the scope of the marriage and family to include additional groups. We contend that the key to addressing this issue lies in shifting the system’s family-centric bias and embracing a broader range of family relationships.