Posted by Logan Snyder on August 31st, 2021We’re pleased to announce the site launch of the Affirming Spaces Project! This is an especially awesome site launch to announce because this is also the official launch of the Affirming Spaces Project itself, a project that’s been well over a year in the making.
Some backstory: The Affirming Spaces Project fills a specific need: If you’re transgender, or gender non-conforming, it can be difficult to find businesses that will respect your identity and treat you with kindness and courtesy. You never know, when you walk into a place for the first time, whether you’ll be treated with kindness, ignorance, or even hate. This can create a lot of anxiety, especially for people who are just coming out for the first time.
I’d been toying with the idea of trying to build a database of trans-friendly businesses for a long time, but never had the time to really flesh it out myself. So when some people I know started putting together the Affirming Spaces Project, I jumped at the chance to be involved. Of course, they needed a website to hold the database of businesses, and hasOptimization rose to the challenge.
The Affirming Spaces website contains basic information on the project itself, a donation page so they can raise money (they’re a fiscally sponsored organization under Renaissance New England, a 501c3 nonprofit), and of course business listings. This site is a fully custom theme built by hasOptimization, and the business listings utilize a custom post type for easy editing and additions. You can check out the new site at AffirmingSpacesProject.org.
The project is focused initially on the NH Seacoast area, but plans to expand to all of NH and maybe even further. ASP was, however, kind enough to list hasOptimization right away, even though we’re outside the initial launch area. We are thrilled to be able to say that we are a certified Affirming Space for transgender and gender non-conforming clients. We’ve always worked to be a safe and affirming business for queer and trans clients and staff, and this badge lets us display that to the world. We’re looking forward to recommending to our local clients that they, too, consider going through ASP’s training and certification process so that we can both help ASP grow their database, and help our clients display to potential customers and clients that they’re a safe and affirming business to work with.
Congratulations, Affirming Spaces Project, for launching the website but even more, for launching the project itself. We know you’re going to do great things.
