Nope! This course is open to any business owner or service provider who is committed to running their business in queer-informed and queer-affirming ways. You don't have to be queer, and you don't have to have any previous knowledge on the subject. You just have to be willing to take the course and commit to being educated, accountable, and affirming to all LGBTQ+ clients you interact with.

Yes! The focus of our courses is in learning new ways of running our businesses, and even though some things you may already practice as a queer business owner yourself, we are not immune to heteronormative and cisnormative defaults baked into the way most of us were taught to run a business. Even if parts of the course are a refresher, you still leave with the badge, certification, and a directory listing to give you visibility with queer clients looking for a business like yours.

Businesses recertify every 2 years at a discounted price to remain listed in the Affirming Business Directory. To recertify, you will need to pass an assessment (you're welcome to retake as much of your course as you need if you need a refresh). Once you pass your recertification assessment, you'll renew your directory listing for a selected amount of time, and keep your access to all features available with the program at the time. Recertification ensures all businesses listed in our directory are up-to-date on the latest in queer-informed care relevant to their industry.

Yes! Use code QUEERFAM to get 10% off at checkout. Please only use this if you are queer-owned. We verify the use of this code and may automatically mark you as a queer-owned business when you sign up for our directory.

Once you're certified, your Certified Queer-Affirming Wedding Photographer badge and certificate are yours to use anywhere you'd like. Put it on your website, in your portfolio, in your marketing materials, or anywhere you want to signal to the queer community that you're a trained and certified affirming business.

Generic DEI training is built for everyone, which means the scenarios, examples, and guidance rarely reflect the specific situations that come up in your work. Your course was designed specifically for your industry. Every scenario, every skill, and every best practice comes from real situations you will actually encounter. Nothing was repurposed from a corporate HR module or adapted from a different industry. Our courses are built from the ground up by a queer expert who works in your field.

Our directory is gated by the completion or recertification in one of our business courses, and the businesses listed are both queer-owned and queer-allied. We made it this way to ensure that businesses in our directory aren't just queer-friendly or queer-owned, but they're trained on how to celebrate, support, and affirm LGBTQ+ clients in queer-informed ways for their industry every step of the way.