HOW TO DO IT

This section will go through principles of community planning and the challenges they raise for consulting with LGBT people/communities. It will use three examples of different community planning projects: building a community pool, consulting on a Structure Plan, and holding a public meeting about a retail park.

A. Who are we looking for? How can we find them? (National Standard 1)

In addition to the usual challenges for getting local people involved in your planning process, there are some challenges that are specific to involving LGBT people.

They include...

• Identifying LGBT people and groups
• Dealing with the fact that there are many LGBT people who are not 'out' at all or to many people
• Addressing the fact that there will be LGBT people who do not feel comfortable outing themselves but may already be involved in your process
• Finding the most appropriate LGBT groups/individuals to involve in your process

How can you meet these challenges?

• First, you must make a specific effort to engage with LGBT people
• How can you 'find' LGBT people?
• The easiest way to do this is through community groups and organizations. There are some web resources (see the 'networking' section of this guide) that have lists of LGBT groups across Scotland
• These groups may be under-resourced, staffed by volunteers, and therefore hard to contact. You must follow-up on emails and telephone calls, and be willing to make extra effort to involve them. You must also be prepared to work around their schedule
• This can be difficult as many community groups may not meet more than once a month. Therefore, you should take a more strategic approach and build partnerships with these groups - meet them well in advance of consultations, and get them on board with participating in your process. This demonstrates that you are interested in more than token gestures - that you are committed to real LGBT involvement
• If there are no LGBT community groups in your area, there may still be a bar or club that many LGBT people frequent
• In this case, asking the bar/club owner whether you can publicise your community planning at his/her establishment (through posters, for example) might be a good start
• You can also ask him/her if they can recommend anywhere else to go, or anyone who might be interested in participating
• If there are not any LGBT community groups, bars or clubs in your area, this is a problem for community planning in itself! In the meantime, you have a greater challenge
• It is more difficult to identify an LGBT community if there are no visible resources or organizations specifically aimed at LGBT people in your area
• You cannot 'out' people who do not want to be outed, or who have not yet admitted their sexual orientation/true gender identity to themselves yet
• And (as you will know) you cannot involve people who do not wish to be involved
• However, you can do your best to create a friendly climate should they choose to do so
• It is not enough to claim to be neutral or bias-free: you and your organization must come across as LGBT-positive - as a place where diversity is celebrated, rather than tolerated
• You must work to build trust with the LGBT community that lives in your area, so that they feel comfortable attending your planning meeting
• You can do this through inclusive advertising: for example, advertising that has photos of same-sex couples as well as opposite-sex couples. Advertising should also include gay-positive, non-heterosexist language: 'partner' instead of 'spouse' or 'husband/wife'

• You can use advertising to state clearly your organisation's commitment to equal access ("We aim to involve all sections of the community, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people" for example.)
• You can also make your workplace LGBT-positive (see resources section)
• Making your workplace and your community consultation 'visible' as LGBT-friendly means LGBT people will feel more comfortable coming to your meeting, and identifying themselves in front of other, non-LGBT people
• Do not make assumptions. LGBT people come in all ages, sizes, and colours, and are disabled and able-bodied. LGBT people who face multiple discrimination because they are also black or disabled often feel doubly excluded. Asian LGBT people, for example, often say that most people assume they are straight and married. Make sure that your advertising represents a spectrum of identities, and that it does not make assumptions about people's sexualities
• This may take time, however - if your community has no resources or groups for LGBT people, it may be a long time before people feel OK about identifying themselves in public
• You must commit to the long haul - make your workplace LGBT-friendly and your consultations LGBT-inclusive because it is the right thing to do, and sooner or later you will achieve results