ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some ways in which the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans (LGBT) minorities might be better accommodated in planning processes. It investigates the multiple scales of governance within which planning for LGBT minorities occurs in the specific context of Australia. The political and legal geography of Australia provides an important case for exploring how multiple, interrelated scales of planning affect the inclusion of LGBT minorities in planning processes. Planning has an empirical goal to improve people's quality of everyday life, but improving planning's own operations requires conceptual scrutiny of its foundational assumptions and frameworks. The chapter also discusses that recognition of LGBT minorities in planning is both complicated and enabled by Australia's multiscalar governance. It explores the Australian Capital Territory's (ACT) efforts to introduce legislation recognizing same-sex partnerships and inclusion by some New South Wales (NSW) local governments of LGBT minorities as a targeted group in compulsory social plans.
