Editing Jane Rule (section)

== Personal life and death ==
Rule and Helen Sonthoff lived together from 1957 until Sonthoff's death in 2000. Sonthoff also taught at the [[University of British Columbia]]. The two became Canadian citizens in 1960.<ref name=":2" />

Rule surprised some in the gay community by declaring herself against [[gay marriage]], writing "To be forced back into the [[heterosexual]] cage of coupledom is not a step forward but a step back into state-imposed definitions of relationship. With all that we have learned, we should be helping our heterosexual brothers and sisters out of their state-defined prisons, not volunteering to join them there."<ref name=":2" />

In 1976, Rule moved to [[Galiano Island]] along with Helen Sonthoff; the two remained there until the end of both their lives. They were well-known and loved on the island; Helen and Jane would give loans to the island's residents in need, as well as teach all the neighborhood children how to swim in their backyard pool.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=Galiano Island remembers Jane Rule|url=https://www.dailyxtra.com/galiano-island-remembers-jane-rule-38818|access-date=2020-07-29|website=Xtra Magazine|date=6 December 2007 }}</ref>

By age 60, Rule was plagued with chronic arthritis, which ultimately dulled her desire to write. In 2007, she was diagnosed with liver cancer. She refused any radical treatment and instead continued swimming and living her life as usual. Prior to her death, Rule had already had two "living wakes" and felt that because of this, she would die elegantly.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-12-07|title=Jane Rule Wrote of 'Jailable' Love|url=http://thetyee.ca/Books/2007/12/07/JaneRules/|access-date=2020-07-29|website=The Tyee|language=English}}</ref> She died later that year, at the age of 76 on November 28, 2007, at home on Galiano Island. The ashes of Jane Vance Rule were interred in the Galiano Island Cemetery next to those of her beloved Helen Sonthoff.<ref name=":4" />

The manuscript of Rule's memoir was found and published posthumously, ''Taking My Life'', published in 2011. The manuscript was discovered by [[Linda M. Morra]], who edited and annotated the book.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Forrest |first1=Katherine |author-link1=Katherine V. Forrest |title='Taking My Life' by Jane Rule |url=https://lambdaliterary.org/2011/09/taking-my-life-by-jane-rule/ |website=Lambda Literary |access-date=29 March 2022 |language=en |date=26 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Taking My Life |url=https://quillandquire.com/review/taking-my-life/ |access-date=29 March 2022 |work=Quill and Quire |date=2 August 2011 |language=en}}</ref>