Sexual and gender minority individuals are more likely to experience interpersonal and self-directed violence than heterosexual and cisgender individuals. However, differences in death from violence are currently unknown because sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data are not collected during death investigations.

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We are developing and testing methods for death investigators to accurately identify SOGI at the time of death. By training death investigators and learning from their experiences in the field, we hope to build toward consistent and accurate documentation of SOGI mortality to create knowledge about disparities in death and inform public health efforts around preventable deaths.