The Affirming Spaces Project (ASP) is a Northern New England-based organization dedicated to improving local communities through development and maintenance of welcoming and affirming environments for patrons, visitors and employees of all genders.

Navigating life as a TGNC person can be daunting. Something as basic as getting a haircut, going for a massage, or calling in a dinner reservation can lead to misunderstanding or poor treatment, even from well-intentioned employees. There continues to be a significant gap between the bare-minimum legal protections in place and the positive change still needed to truly create and sustain friendly, comfortable business environments for people of all genders.

The Affirming Spaces Project works to close this gap. We do this by providing free training and resources to create a network of like-minded businesses and organizations that TGNC folks and their allies can feel good about supporting.

Here's how it works: ASP provides training, resources, and ongoing support to local businesses and organizations to help them ensure people of all genders feel welcomed and affirmed in their spaces. After completing the training, they get a window sticker to display that identifies them as one of our Community Partners. Then, we add them to our searchable online database, and voilà — our visible network of Affirming Spaces grows a little larger! You can access our database of trained Community Partners, searchable by town or category, on our website, www.affirmingspacesproject.org .

The Affirming Spaces Project partners with Seacoast Outright, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, to support New Hampshire's transgender and gender-diverse communities.