New nonprofit seeks to advocate for transgender community

SOMERSWORTH - A new nonprofit that seeks to help businesses and organizations across New Hampshire to be more welcoming to transgender and gender nonconforming patrons, visitors, and employees is gearing up to celebrate their official launch next week.

The Affirming Spaces Project is holding its launch party at Teatotaller Cafe in Somersworth on Tuesday. The event will last from 7 to 9 p.m. and will feature speeches from founding members of ASP and their community partners. The event requires an RSVP and can be found on ASP social media.

"A large part of coming out is embracing yourself and finding your joy - however, for too many trans and gender non-conforming folks, it's just the beginning of finding affirming services and spaces." said Affirming Spaces Project co-founder and Rochester City Councilor Palana Hunt-Hawkins. "I am so excited that there will be an organization dedicated to continuing community education about and bringing visibility to trans folks in New Hampshire."

The Affirming Spaces Project will provide free trainings on gender identity and pronouns to participating spaces as well as promote those spaces through a searchable online database.

Early planning sessions for ASP began in fall 2019, about one year after the passage of gender identity non-discrimination protections in New Hampshire. The passage of this legislation was a victory for all who support fair treatment and equal rights. But even with new protections in place, navigating public life as a transgender person can still be daunting. There is still a significant gap between the bare-minimum protections that businesses must legally afford transgender people and positive changes in daily habits.

"As a result, 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 allies" says ASP co-founder Janelle Drake. "The Affirming Spaces Project intends to close this gap."

The Affirming Spaces Project is initially limited to Dover, Somersworth, and Rochester, but will be expanding statewide by the end of the year.

"We chose the Tri-City area as our launch market for the great work it had already done and high level of community interest in planning stages" says ASP Founder Brooke Bouldry-Morrison.

For more information on the Affirming Spaces Project to become a Community Partner, or to volunteer with ASP, please visit www.affirmingspacesproject.org. ASP can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, all @affirmingspaces