MISSION AND VISION
Our Mission
Dignity Seniors Society (DSS) is dedicated to affecting systemic change that creates culturally appropriate services for 2SLGBTQIA+ seniors that support and engage them in ways that are meaningful to them.
Our Vision
All 2SLGBTQIA+ Seniors in BC enjoy fulfilling later years and a dignified end to life.
Language and Terminology
We use the term 2SLGBTQIA+ as an inclusive acronym to represent the communities that we serve.
We have placed ‘2S’ at the beginning of “LGBTQIA+” to acknowledge the importance of the Two-Spirit members of our community during the ongoing process of reconciliation in Canada. DSS asks all directors and volunteers to commit to learning about the history of residential schools and the effects of colonization on the Indigenous peoples of Canada, and the country as a whole. We use 2S as an umbrella term inclusive of LGBTQIA+ Indigenous and Indiqueer people.
We use the term queer and gender diverse as a substitute for 2SLGBTQIA+ to simplify language, and where specific identifiers are not required.
Many of the seniors in our community have fought hard to get the acronym LGBT recognised in society. We are respectful of this, while acknowledging that the language and terminology used to represent our community is continuously evolving.