HOW TO DO IT
B. What are the barriers to LGBT people getting involved in my planning process? (Standard 2)
Example 2
You are consulting on a Structure Plan, and you want to make sure that LGBT members of the community understand that this will affect them as well, and feel comfortable attending your consultation and sharing their views...
- Once you have actively addressed LGBT people and issues in your advertising, and have identified the groups/people you would like to involve, you must look at the barriers to their involvement
- In other words: LGBT people now know about your event, but how can you ensure their involvement?
In addition to the usual barriers, there are LGBT-specific barriers to involvement...
- A perception of irrelevance - the idea that public services are not 'for' LGBT people
- A perception of LGBT-phobia and/or heterosexism on the part of your organization
- A fear of unwanted 'outing'
- Exhaustion from being over-consulted - because LGBT people are a relatively small part of the population, if your area has a visible LGBT community, chances are they have been asked many times to participate in events that may or may not have proved worthwhile for them
How can you overcome these barriers?
- You must have very specific aims and make them immediately relevant to LGBT people
- How can you 'find' LGBT people?
Example 2
One of your stated aims can be: "To address how the local authority can create community spaces that are available and comfortable for all people to use, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members of the community."
- Go to them: LGBT people may be more comfortable in specific LGBT settings (such as the LGBT community centre, for example, or other meeting spaces that LGBT groups might regularly use.) LGBT people might feel more apprehensive about attending a planning meeting in, for example, the community room of a church or other religious organization because of a fear of institutional bias
- Use LGBT community spaces even if you are not running an LGBT-specific event, to increase visibility of your organization with LGBT people
- Confidentiality is an important issue for a lot of LGBT people. Unfortunately, it is not always possible for responses to community planning to be confidential. Whatever your confidentiality policy is, make sure it is clearly stated from the start (for example, 'the results of this will be shared with my colleagues, but specific individuals will not be identified', or 'In order to create a transparent process, all proceedings from these meetings are available to the public').
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