ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. This book uses the concept of intersectionality to consider the ways in which women and people of color experience traditional gay villages and work to create alternate, more inclusive spaces that serve their needs. These populations frequently struggle with intersecting forms of discrimination, are all too often completely invisible to planning practitioners and, as a result, are neglected in most planning documents. When marginalized populations are ignored by mainstream planning efforts, there can be large negative consequences of this intended or unintended erasure. The needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer (LGBTQ) people of color and non-normative women for urban spaces are less studied and not well understood by planners and municipal officials. The book highlights planner's difficulty in recognizing the ways that urban spaces are being utilized in response to shifting gender and sexual subjectivities.
