Category: Community News

Meet our new Resource Coordinator: Ricki Palmisano!

11/29/2018

When I first worked on RESCQU.NET’s resources database as a temporary volunteer, I had no idea what I was in for.

There we were, in the Lair of Abraxas, for an event to build a database of over 150 LGBTQ+ resources, and I was looking over several weeks worth of work, matching organizations with their contact information. There was a long way to go, but I approached it as a logic game.

The night was full of tea and friends, and I even got a T-shirt at the end! Weeks of work beforehand started to come to fruition. At the end of the night our leader, Samantha, approached me. She complimented me on my work in the database over the prior few weeks and asked me how I felt about it.

And then she asked me if I'd like to join the team, curating this database permanently—the rest is history.

I’m Ricki Palmisano, and this is the resource database.

A main feature of the database is the ‘vetting’ process. We will call and email each organization to make sure we have the best anonymous contact for closeted and out folks alike. Automation is something we can look forward to, but for now, I’m working out the kinks, and enjoying the one-on-one time I get to have with some of our founding partner organizations.

So What's on the Database?

Contact Northern Colorado Eclectic if you're local to Colorado.

Two organizations immediately jumped on board the database project with me.

Northern Colorado Eclectic:

Eclectic was kind enough to share their resources with us from day one and largely contributed to the volume of resources our database has now. Eclectic is a local group that organizes events, support groups, and programs in the northern Colorado area to support and educate people in and around the LGBTQ+ community. Eclectic also doubles as an advocacy group associated with CO state representative Dr. Joann Ginal, who focuses on health care and public issues for the LGBTQ+ and intersectional communities. Check them out on our database!

Beyond the Mirror is an awesome resource. Check it out if you are in Fort Collins.

Beyond the Mirror:

Is an identity counseling service flew through the vetting process and I’m proud to have them on our list! They are useful for folks questioning, still in the closet, or at any point in their journey. They provide services specialized for teens and those with eating disorders. Look up their name or ‘counseling’ on our database to find their anonymous contact or your own local equivalent LGBT+ counseling services.

Take a look at our database to find these resources and more. Type in the organization’s name into the search bar on the upper right-hand corner of the database window.

What’s Next for the Database?

Now I have a new task in front of me: How do we make this database easy to navigate?

Together, Samantha and I came up with a solution: a way to tag each organization with searchable keywords that you would use to find that resource. That way people could easily find the resources most useful to them at the time they need it.

Over time, spearheading the database has become a bit more organized. I brought a friend of mine with me to volunteer and now I have a partner in crime. Together our goal is to make the database as full and accessible as possible.

If you have any questions on how to use the database or have a suggestion of your own, you can email me anonymously at Ricki.Palmisano@rescqu.net! (I’m closet-friendly, too)

About the Author: Ricki P.

Ricki is the Database coordinator for RESCQU.NET. She vets and establishes partnerships with organizations to ensure closet-friendly resources are in the database.

0 Comments

Why Knowing How to Find Resources is More Vital Than Ever

11/20/2018

0 Comments

Picture: 4 in 10 lgbt youth (42%) say that community in which they live is not accepting of LGBT people ~human rights watch (https://www.hrc.org/youth-report/view-and-share-statistics)

Credible resources are important. This is always the case. Believe me, I’m an English teacher.

Unfortunately, credible resources are not exactly simple.

Some topics have a wealth of resources which create a variety of conflicting opinions you have to tease through. Other issues have a small pool of resources to pick from causing you to lose out on valuable, silenced perspectives.

Especially where the LGBT+ minority is concerned.

So why does this matter?

When it comes to your identity, having a variety of resources, opinions, and people to learn from is vital, but can give you more misinformation. And on the other hand, you cannot, or at least should not, tailor yourself to fit a smaller pool of resources that could be incorrect.

So in this blog, we’re going to teach you how to identify credible information, and deal with the regrettably low amount of information out there for LGBTQ+ people.

Now, there are three types of resources for information.

1. Primary sources are fist-hand accounts of individual stories. are necessary because they are the easiest to empathize with.

They’re people telling you stories about who they are. They can come from friends, family, or even some random blogger, but their stories are raw and authentic to themselves.

2. Secondary sources like articles, reviews, and academic papers, break down the stories, identify trends among similar stories, and provide validation to a single person’s or group’s experience.

3. Tertiary resources like Wikipedia pages, textbooks and encyclopedias zoom out and compile all of the first-person data, and reviews to present it in a bigger format. Conflicting stories can be put together to establish the pros and cons. They can more reliably illustrate the complexity of situations. They make it easier to access and to trust.

How this works in LGBTQ+ Communities

The problem that LGBTQ+ folks face is a blatant lack of resources about identity.

There are medical, social, and legal questions, among others that people can’t find answers to in a simple google search. There isn’t really a good way to “google” a feeling.

Attempting to do so can also be dangerous. Our blog on safe internet browsing practices explains how dangerous it can be to find high-quality resources if you are stealth/closeted and share a computer with not-so-friendly people.

While this problem affects everyone, LGBTQ+ youth are at an extreme disadvantage. So let’s talk about resources in the context of youth.

Example: Youth Access to LGBTQ+ Resources

They are out in the world, discovering themselves for the first time, and want help but they're not getting it.

The map below lists all of the states with “no promo homo” laws. While the name sounds hilarious, the intentions are more nefarious.

These “no promo homo” laws silence students and teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ issues.

Picture: Anti-LGBT: States that have laws restricting teachers and staff from talking about LGBT issues at school: Caption: Sources: Human Rights Watch | Lambda Legal

Sources: Human Rights Watch | Lambda Legal

They prevent critical information from being taught to LGBTQ youth.

And sadly, This only records policy. Not Culture. This information is not being taught in tons of grey states either.

These laws directly impact students’ health and well-being. The red states showed actively suppress LGBTQ sex education. If you, a student or a parent of an LGBT+ student, find yourself in want or need of better sex education, you’ll have to find better resources.

As an immediate resource, might we suggest the Queer Sex Ed podcast?!"

Without proper curriculum in place for youth to learn about different identities that may apply to them, we end up in one of several places. The darkest of these places is self-harm and suicide.

Take these resources which offer rare but insightful data on how a lack of resources affect youth:

“The prevalence of having attempted suicide was higher among gay, lesbian, and bisexual students (29.4%) than heterosexual students (6.4%) and not sure students (13.7%) and higher among not sure students (13.7%) than heterosexual students (6.4%)." ~ CDC.GOV [link]

“30 percent of transgender youth report a history of at least one suicide attempt, and nearly 42 percent report a history of self-injury, such as cutting."
~cincinattichildrens.org [link]

Why finding Quality Resources is VITAL

Despite these studies being crucial resources necessary for schools to provide to suicidal youth, they were, unfortunately, tricky to find.

And it’s not going to get any easier.

The Census Bureau, our nation’s primary source for data, announced in March of 2017, that it would not include LGBTQ questions on the 2020 census.

After reading the Planned 2020 census, the only whisper of sexuality I found was in the “relationship to housemates section,” So LGBTQ+ people would have to be married to and/or living with a same-sex partner to count as LGBTQ if they even report their marriage, to begin with. There is no mention of gender identity.

This may be looking pretty grim for you if you are an LGBTQ-identified person searching for resources. But we at RESCQU NET are working on it.

Check out our impressive LGBTQ resource database which has vetted primary and secondary sources for your needs. And if you’d need some 1-on-1 support finding resources, check out our online support groups!

About the Author: Erin Tschudi

Erin is the volunteer with the largest tenure here at RESCQU.NET because it allows her to keep connected with the LGBT+ community. As a bi woman who is soon to be getting married to her future husband she feels deeply for the community and wants to keep that connection. So she works to train our volunteers, welcome our new community members, and keep the wheels turning.

0 Comments

Why and How to support LGBT+ military and veterans | A Resource Packet for Veterans, and a How-to for everyone else

11/12/2018

0 Comments

PictureVeteran's Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255. https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/Content/images/VeteransCrisisLineLogo.png

Just one of the many resources we will offer in this blog - Share this resource with LGBT+ veterans you know!

Today is a big day.

In observance of Veterans Day, at the launch of Transgender Awareness Week, and coming to you one week before Transgender Day of Remembrance, I want to observe the gravity of the month of November for the LGBT+ community in this blog.

Today, as we show gratitude and appreciation for those who have fought bravely for our liberties and freedoms, we must also remember that many service members do not have adequate access to the support they need and deserve; both LGBT+ and cis-straight veterans.

In this blog, I will bring up several of the hurdles and pitfalls that keep these veterans and soldiers silent, in the closet, or stealth throughout their service, and afterward.

And for those of you in this situation, we’d like to provide some resources to give you that support and make sure you’re heard.

The Military’s Culture of Prejudice

PictureTAVA: Transgender Veterans Association: http://transveteran.org/for-veterans/trans-support-locator/

A second resource for Transgender Veterans struggling with legal, healthcare, or other issues.

Up until the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DA;DT) in the U.S. military, there was minimal information on the specific concerns that LGBT+ service members faced.

In 2010, The Williams Institute of UCLA released a report on the estimated number of lesbian, gay, and bisexual men and women in the military.

It showed that they comprised roughly 2.2% of all military personnel.

In 2014 UCLA released a new report stating there were over 150,000 active transgender individuals in the armed forces.

While this data shed some light on the existence of LGBT+ military personnel, it obviously could not account for closeted individuals. Despite having the opportunity to serve openly, many military personnel did not, and still do not feel safe to come out within today’s military culture.

When I was in the Navy, I couldn't be honest about my life. My Girlfriend, Victoria, had to be called Victor because I risked expulsion from service. I felt shame and fear. When DA;DT was repealed it was life-changing. People cried just to be able to hold the one they loved. But now, with Trump, that fear is back, and it's not just keeping people in the closet. It's threatening the lives of everyone who came out then.

This fear is legitimate and has removed thousands from service. Love MUST win.
~Navy Veteran

The rates of discrimination towards minority communities within the armed forces are still higher than the general population. That is especially true for transgender and gender non-conforming folxs. These disproportionate rates of discrimination can be a factor in closeted individuals choosing not to come out or not feeling comfortable serving at all.

Access to medical and mental health care are also still lacking for LGBT+ service members.
While policy changes have occurred in the last decade to allow for more medical protections, many same-sex spouses and transgender veterans face difficult hurdles when seeking treatment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs states that it has improved policies to make access easier and more secure for transgender veterans, but an overwhelming number face limitations when it comes to transition-related surgical care, applications being denied and repealed upwards of 3 times, and medical practitioners either don’t know the rules, or avidly ignore them in practice.

Veteran Discrimination After Serving

PictureOut Serve SLDN: https://www.outserve-sldn.org/legal/

OutServe is a legal organization that caters to LGBT+ veterans struggling with DA;DT

Older LGBT+ veterans face further difficulties when it comes to their discharge status.

Since 1993, more than 13,000 individuals were discharged due to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
.
Individuals discharged for homosexuality were discharged with a "less than honorably" status that can be difficult to dispute.

A less than honorable discharge effectively bars these individuals from receiving veterans benefits, cost them government positions, and comes with a burden of shame.

Discharge statuses can be now can reviewed and changed to honorable for DA;DT reasons, but that process is untimely and demands a fair bit of paperwork. So many LGBT+ veterans have lived with their lower statuses for so long that their lives have been significantly set back by it and no correction will be enough to recover that lost time, effort, social position, and money.

So what can Veteran’s and Allies Do?

Veteran's Legal Institute: https://www.vetslegal.com/

The Veterans legal institute is the first place to start if you have trouble with medical issues and policies, finding work, or discrimination issues

Organizations are working to support LGBT+ veterans in various areas, such as AVER (American Veterans for Equal Rights), but what is needed most is broad wide-sweeping changes to the cultural approaches the military takes to protect, advocate for, and empower military personnel - both during and after serving.

The best thing an ally can do, however, is to listen and then respond with support by boosting the stories of LGBT+ veterans issues. Donate to media organizations like GLAAD, the Personal Stories Project, and other organizations that seek to signal boost veterans, and contribute to the financial health of the organizations we recommend below:

If You're a Veteran, we encourage you to use these Resources

You can find these resources and hundreds of others on our Resources page, It's visually easy to understand, organized, and searchable. Simply filter and sort the database by your stage in your journey, the issues you are facing, and/or your identity! Try it out here!

In emergencies:
1. Veterans crisis Network
  1. https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/
    
    The Veterans Crisis Line connects Veterans in crisis and their families and friends with qualified, caring Department of Veterans Affairs responders through a confidential toll-free hotline, online chat, or text. Veterans and their loved ones can call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, chat online, or send a text message to 838255 to receive confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Support for deaf and hard of hearing individuals is available.
For legal issues:
1. OUT SERVE - SLDN
  1. https://www.outserve-sldn.org/page/legal?
    
    OutServe-SLDN provides free legal counseling to service members with legal issues stemming from discrimination based on one's perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender presentation, the regulations governing military service by HIV+ people, the rules addressing military service by transgender persons, and offers assistance to veterans seeking to upgrade or correct their discharge paperwork.
2. ALCU -
  1. https://www.aclu.org/
    
    For almost 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
3. Veterans Legal Institute
  1. https://www.vetslegal.com/
    
    Veterans Legal Institute® (VLI) provides pro bono legal assistance to homeless, at risk, disabled and low-income current and former service members to eradicate barriers to housing, healthcare, education, and employment and foster self-sufficiency.
For post-military civilian assistance
1. Hire Heroes USA
  1. https://www.hireheroesusa.org/
    
    Hire Heroes USA empowers U.S. military members, veterans and military spouses to succeed in the civilian workforce.
For Transgender Veteran Care and Advocacy
1. Transgender American Veterans Association
  1. http://transveteran.org/for-veterans/trans-support-locator/
    
    We work non-stop finding relevant information across the web on transgender issues and bring it to you every day. Here are just a few of our latest Facebook posts. Enjoy!

Lane Lunsford

Lane is the Facilitator of the newly formed Bisexual / Pansexual group Bitter / Sweet. She's spent most of her life counseling troubled youth and the LGBT+ community. She's recently married her husband and experiences the same Bi-erasure she is supporting you with now. Join her group!

0 Comments

Why You May Not Vote, and How You Can Change That

10/23/2018

0 Comments

Hi, there!

I'm Erin, the Weekly Digest - and if you choose to volunteer - Volunteer Coordinator here at RESCQU.NET!

In lieu of a regular blog post this week, I feel like it’s important we discuss something that is happening at the beginning of next month: voting.

These days, everyone is talking about voting as "why you should vote." The language of “motivation” going around seems to assume that people don’t vote because they're lazy or they don’t care.

What about those of us who find voting extremely difficult for other reasons?

I have anxiety. Really bad anxiety. Especially in highly charged crowds.

So, the polls seem VERY scary to me.

It’s so much more than just getting off of the couch and waiting in line to me. The idea alone nauseates me and makes my muscles twitch.

There are millions of other reasons one may not be willing or able to vote from anxiety to active voter suppression. If you’re closeted or have any reason whatsoever that you are afraid or hesitant to vote, we want you to know that that feeling is valid, but workarounds have to be found.

But I am lucky enough to live in a state that allows me to mail in my ballot every year. Not everyone has that resource, and if they do, they're often not aware it exists.

This blog provides you the resources needed to work around your hurdles & cast that vote!

How to vote in Every State, and Whether You Can Mail it in!

This below state voting database includes 3 pieces of information for each state:

The link to the state's voting page to receive information for and register to vote!
Can you vote by mail?
Can you vote online?

I sincerely hope that the chart above offers you some voting assistance, but if you need more, we've also embedded a very helpful channel from the VlogBrothers and DFTBA about how to vote in each state. You'll need to go to the youtube channel to find your state.

If you're in a state that does not allow for mail-in or online voting, you will have to report to your designated location. While that is a significant hurdle though, we have a few more options for you as well.

Go to this channel and find your state!

Do you Work on Voting Day?

Though I'd mentioned anxiety as a hurdle of mine, it's certainly not the only or most prominent hurdle.

Many people work on election day and cannot take time off due to financial restraints.

If this applies to you, you can visit Vote411.org and enter your address to see if your employer is legally required to give you paid time off to vote on election day. Every area varies a little in their terms, so make sure that you're looking at the correct precinct that you’ll be voting in!

How to Fight Voter Suppression

Last, and the certainly scariest of the hurdles, is the blatant voter suppression tactics that are running amok all over the country.

I'm not going to expand on all of them, simply because it is a hot topic right now and there are a lot of people who are saying it better than I can right now. For more information head over to this New York Times article that discusses themost recent tactics in the "age of Trump".

Knowing about these tactics is vital to getting your vote cast, but if you find yourself oppressed, you find people telling you your vote doesn't matter, or you are physically barred from voting, here's the number 1 thing you can get that will fight this:

Know How Your State Provides Voting Information

Every state is required to inform the federal government how they plan to educate their citizens on the issues most prominently displayed during the voting process.

Some of them are easy, like Colorado which provides a "bluebook" or voter information ballot mailed to every home and provided online.

Other states put it in harder to reach spots, but they can ALL be found on the federal registry.

Go to to this link at the state legislator's site.
Scroll down to your state and check the section it's in.
and it tells you where the state must have the information.
then search google for "[state] [voter information source]"
and it will be within the first 5 links!

Know What's on Your Ballot, Well Before You Vote

We're also going to leave one last tool for your toolbox to make sure you can get around any hurdle you have to voting. The internet.

More spectifically, the internet has deemed your vote important, so they've created a wikipedia specifically for your local, state, and federal elections over at Ballotpedia.org.

This site has literally everything you need ot know about the candidates, policies and more. all you have to do is navigate to the local page you're interested in, hit search, and read!

https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page

About Erin Tschudi

0 Comments

But Did They Listen? The Impact of Nanette, One Year Later

10/16/2018

0 Comments

"Where are the quiet gays supposed to go? The pressure on my people to express our identity and pride through the metaphor of party is...intense."

Over the past summer, much of the world has become widely familiar with
Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix special, Nanette.

And for good reason.

After it’s debut in Melbourne, Australia last year, the show has been met with widespread critical acclaim and the response from most minority populations, particularly from the LGBTQ+ and #MeToo communities, showed how powerful and necessary her message was. Even more so when it’s placed in today's political context.

Although it’s marketed as a comedy special, Gadsby’s Nanette delivers far more than laughs.
It’s equal parts heartbreaking raw emotion, intensely personal storytelling, and stunningly artful comedic and critical prose.

So today’s blog, half way into LGBT+ history month, we are reviewing the impact of Nanette and how it's opened doors for LGBT+ communities to share their most silent stories.

So the Question today is:

What is Nanette’s impact months after the show’s finale?

Small Warning Though: If you haven’t seen this show, and you’re in an environment that allows you to do so, go watch it. Bring tissues, and reserve an hour or so to think about it afterward.

For real, you're going to cry. It made me cry.

What is Nanette?

Hannah Gadsby performed the “comedy” special Nanette on stage throughout 2017-2018 in Australia, Europe, the United States, and Canada.

In all cases, audiences went in expecting a traditional stand-up comedy set and were left shaken, inspired, speechless and/or all three.

In fact, Hannah set out to create Nanette as a farewell to comedy. Instead, she used the stage to tell her story the way it had never fully been told - in the most honest fashion possible.

What she presents in Nanette is a harsh look at how comedy has long been a place that encourages humiliation towards oppressed groups of people. What Hahnah has ultimately achieved is a thought-provoking piece of art that continues to inspire marginalized communities the world over, to tell their own stories and break the silent status-quo.

What is the Status-Quo?

Members of the LGBT+ community, too often feel a considerable amount of pressure from society to keep their more heart-breaking stories of discrimination and harsh realities hidden, in an effort not to disrupt heterosexual individuals’ “comfort zones”. ~ Lane Lunsford

LGBT+ people and other minorities are told that we should remain silent and ashamed so others can be eased into the problem, or allow them to ignore it entirely.

We are told, “I don’t have a problem with LGBT+ individuals, so long as you keep it to yourself.”

The U.S military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy from 1994-2011 highlights the level of unease that knowing the details of our lives creates in straight-cis-hetero people.

How Did Nanette Change That Status-Quo?

What Gadsby does in her hour-long special is what so many of us have long sought to do; Communicate our stories un-filtered and un-apologetically in a non-self-deprecating way.

Nanette tells Hannah's story In a way that does not conceal traumatic details. She does not spare outsiders from the discomfort and fear that LGBT+ individuals face in our daily lives.

It’s an inspiring Concept; to proudly share our whole story, not just the edited version mainstream society is willing to hear.

While she specifically targets her fellow comedians and the art of comedy itself for its particularly negative impacts on minorities, her performance represents how we are all taught to bring ourselves down in order shield others from the traumas of our experiences.

We have adapted to the idea that we must suffer in order to increase our creativity, and ultimately, our worth. By sharing her story in its entirety - the good bits and the harsh realities - we see that our power resides in our voices.

Comedians have relied on self-deprecating humor for a long time now. Comedians Use bits and pieces of their personal lives as the building blocks of seemingly harmless jokes.

Gadsby takes those stories further, to point out how often audiences are laughing at parts of a comedian’s life that are deeply troubling. Those “seemingly harmless jokes” stir up memories that are not so harmless, but we as an audience are not asked to consider this further.

Gadsby reminds us over and over again that we are paying for her to make us feel something and to question our own role in her trauma. In this way, Nanette in addition to giving voice to marginalized individuals has also created conversations amongst those who have never thought about the pain they have caused to others.

They are left questioning themselves, rather than having Gadsby resolve those questions for them.

But, did they listen?

Gadsby is not the first comedian to open up so personally about her life. There are plenty of other powerful comedians that push us to question social standards and look at our own actions.

Nanette stands out because of how far it has reached.

Articles on the Washington post, and culture mass. It won an Emmy. Discussions reached Forbes, a business magazine. .

Although the hits are slowing, and criticisms suggest cis-hetero-men are broadly rejecting it, Nanette is still resonating throughout the LGBT+ community as a piece that empowers us to speak up and in this area, it is showing NO signs of stopping.

Our stories are important and our trauma is real. We are not alone in our struggles and it is crucial that we have spaces that lift us up rather than stirring up fear.

RESCQU NET also values your stories and we offer you the support to share your stories, in a closet-friendly manner. Indeed right now, as an invisible community member, you are experiencing these harsh realities and cruel prejudice already.

We are here so that you can discuss your experiences with others and gain resources in our Support group program. So consider attending one!

How to keep yourself Anonymous Online

Why we started a Bi/Pan support group

Author: Lane Ramsay

0 Comments

How to Keep your LGBTQ Identity Hidden Online

9/4/2018

0 Comments

The Internet holds a wealth of information for people questioning all kinds of things about themselves.

In most cases the internet is extremely helpful - sometimes even lifesaving.

Unfortunately however, every click on a web page, every questionnaire you fill out, every time you give out personal identifying information, you risk “outing” yourself in potentially BIG ways.

To get the information and support we need to understand ourselves, we often have to trade our own identity as a sort of “ticket” to the show.

Your information is highly valuable to other people and you need to protect it.

The key to security, safety, and anonymity is minimizing how much information you provide for what you need. Minimize what leaks out of your own computer or other device, your local network, and the Internet, for others to collect.

This blog covers the basics you can do to cover your tracks on a purely technological level - ranging from the easiest ways, to advanced techniques. It’s not exhaustive and following this doesn’t guarantee 100% protection, but it will help in most circumstances.

I'm also planning to continually update this, so it’s going to get big. Every month we'll ask a new expert in online security to add their own take to this blog post. We'll also order this post from easiest to do, to hardest.

In preparation for that gradual expansion, I’m adding a quick table of contents here. You can check back every month to see the new parts, and I'll be in the comments below to answer questions:

What We'll Cover:

Net-Safety 101:

Net-Safety 201:

Protect your "Location" IP Address using Tor - the onion browser.

**= new!

Use Incognito/private mode and clear your history

Ironically, if you’re reading this and you haven’t done these things below, you’re already at risk. Every major browser has a private or incognito browsing session that you can start.

Before you start doing any searching, exploring, clicking…start a private/incognito session.

You can either click around to find it or use a hotkey to open an incognito or private browsing session
(Ctrl + P for Firefox and IE, Ctrl + N for Chrome, for example).

If you happen to forget to browse privately, you can alternatively clear your browser’s history. Realize, however, if you do have someone looking over your shoulder, seeing an empty history will raise suspicions – usually you can delete history back to a specific time: an hour, a day, etc.

When you clear the browser’s history, clear EVERYTHING. Cookies, and cache store way more information than you will be comfortable with anyone seeing, check every box you can.

Remember, private browsing and dumping your history aren’t silver bullets. Being in incognito mode and logged into those platforms does not protect you from people looking over your shoulder. I've provided some links to the five major browsers' private mode and clearing browser history information:

Firefox private session and clearing history
Chrome private session and clearing history
Edge private session and clearing history
Opera private session and clearing history
IE private session and clearing history

You can Learn more about the importance of private browsing to stop cookies here too!

Out-links are risky. Beware.

Some resources you use will take you out of the platform you're on and over to Facebook, YouTube, or some other platform. Each platform has ways to protect your information, but it’s tricky and they all handle it differently.

For example, if someone else has access to your account on those platforms (say you leave it on all the time on your mobile device and someone else looks through that device), they will still be able to see what you were doing, even with all the privacy settings in the world turned on.

Limit where you go and consider where you are browsing to all the time – I'd like to reiterate that private browsing and dumping your history aren’t silver bullets. There are tools you can use to track how sites use your information but we'll go into those in a later blog as they are a bit complicated.

For now, just remember that different platforms treat your information differently, so be careful when you click on a link that takes you to another site.

How do they do this? Well, they use Cookies so you should know how they work in this blog.

Email isn’t as secure as you think

Companies, schools, and parents all usually have access to official and personal e-mail accounts. If you have to correspond with someone or use an e-mail to gain access to resources or services, you may want to consider, in a private browsing session, creating a new e-mail account that you can use explicitly for research and contacting resources, that is less likely to be compromised.

Signing up for a new Gmail or Hotmail account can work well enough for most people, but these services request personal information, and usually request some way to get back to you, an alternative e-mail and/or phone number. There's also a lot ofother problems with privacy to beware of too.

If you choose to create a new e-mail account, don’t provide any alternative contact information and limit what information you do provide. Keep in mind though, if you forget your password, you will be locked out of that account with no way to recover.

There are alternatives to regular e-mail accounts that allow you to be even more anonymous. Guerrillamail.com, and Fastmail are good examples. Here you get a disposable, one-hour active e-mail account before all the information is GONE.

Get in the habit of logging out and deleting yourself.

On the surface these seem like no-brainers, but convenience is quite the enchantress. Look at how Facebook Messenger took over texting apps by asking you to provide it your whole contacts book.

Logging out:
When you are done accessing your e-mail, or any other resource, be sure to log out of each resource as you finish using it and before closing your browser. Clearing your history or using a private browsing session will help keep prying eyes out, but if your email session stays active, it can still be accessed without knowing your password…so, again, log out!

Deleting files:
If you download any files, including viewing PDF documents, for example, or take notes in a program like a notepad, be sure you delete these items if you think they could contain information that would give up what you’re trying to protect if someone saw it. Downloads are not protected by private/incognito sessions and the file itself is not cleared alongside your browser's download history.

If a document isn’t on a web page, like a Word-format document or a PDF, it has to be downloaded to be viewed. Here are the ways to view what you downloaded in each browser:

How do sites record documents? They use Cookies so you should know how they work in this blog.

Know what your network knows

This one takes some knowing of how the internet works but it could probably save you the most.

Most networks you access are vulnerable to monitoring. Any time you have to log in to a computer, your activity is subject to being recorded. At home, some people use different home network monitoring tools like Disney’s Circle, which will collect things like browsing history from each device in the home in addition to your device's recording. Schools and businesses also often track browsing history. Even more advanced anonymity techniques like using Tor, won’t prevent this kind of tracking.

If the monitoring is sophisticated enough, it’s safer not to use any devices on that network.

Coffee shops and libraries with hotspots or public computers will help protect you if you think your home or office network is being monitored. However, these open networks are often monitored themselves, by people that want your credit card or banking information.

Still, these people are very unlikely to be interested in your searches, so search for the information you need, and don’t buy anything, or access anything “secure” (like a bank account) in public.

Net-safety 201: Hide your net "location"
with Tor - The Onion Browser

Now we're getting to the more "complicated" part of this blog and the first "full-blog" addition. This is more complicated, but can save your parents or ISPs from seeing your activity.

If you'd like to read more on this, we have a full description here.

One of the more advanced ways to protect your identity on the internet is to hide your IP Address - basically the envelope that carries your data to and from so the internet knows your computer is asking for the data and can send what you requested back to you. It works just like snail mail. You send a request and your IP address includes a "from" address. They save that address to their address book and send what you requested back to you.

Tor, the onion browser puts several other senders between you, and the destination, which anonymizes your IP address under several layers of protection (hence the onion metaphor).

Read the full article on Tor to better understand Tor's benefit to keeping you safe

So Let's Recap:

Net-Safety 101:

Net-Safety 201:

Protect your "Location" IP Address using Tor - the onion browser.

To Conclude:

As it stands, these steps will usually be enough to keep you from outing yourself unintentionally. There are more advanced steps you can take to move your anonymity to the next level if you feel you need to do that, such as using Tor, Virtual Private Networks, GPG, etc.

A couple of checklists you can follow to utilize these more advanced techniques are here and here for further protecting your privacy, but require more technical prowess.

Stay safe. We're here for you but can only do so much. Let me know if you have any questions.

This Article is curated by Jerri P

Jerri joined RESCQU.NET to assist in attaining secure and safe technological systems. Jerry did their masters in computer technology on computer languages and enforcing SSL documentation. They now help us with the closet-friendly partner organization program, and inform you of the dangers of searching the internet unprotected.

0 Comments

Please, Make Cultural Change Happen | The Pulse, Orlando Shooting

6/13/2016

0 Comments

We want to respond to this shooting, but we want to make sure that education, enlightenment, and greater conversations happen in the midst of this terrible tragedy. This is a cultural issue, and no one solution will help. We need to see this as inter-sectional and recognize what really feeds into this terrible violence so we can begin to work to fix it.

0 Comments

Good Stories are Powerful Lifelines.

Meet our new Resource Coordinator: Ricki Palmisano!

So What's on the Database?

What’s Next for the Database?

About the Author: Ricki P.

Why Knowing How to Find Resources is More Vital Than Ever

So why does this matter?

How this works in LGBTQ+ Communities

Example: ​Youth Access to LGBTQ+ Resources

Why finding Quality Resources is VITAL

About the Author: Erin Tschudi

Why and How to support LGBT+ military and veterans | A Resource Packet for Veterans, and a How-to for everyone else

The Military’s Culture of Prejudice

Veteran Discrimination After Serving

So what can Veteran’s and Allies Do? ​

If You're a Veteran, we encourage you to use these Resources

Lane Lunsford

Why You May Not Vote, and How You Can Change That

How to vote in Every State, and Whether You Can Mail it in!

Do you Work on Voting Day?

How to Fight Voter Suppression

Know How Your State Provides Voting Information

Know What's on Your Ballot, Well Before You Vote

About Erin Tschudi

But Did They Listen? The Impact of Nanette, One Year Later

What is Nanette?

What is the Status-Quo?

How Did Nanette Change That Status-Quo?

But, did they listen?

Author: Lane Ramsay

How to Keep your LGBTQ Identity Hidden Online

What We'll Cover:

Use Incognito/private mode and clear your history

Out-links are risky. Beware.

Email isn’t as secure as you think

Get in the habit of logging out and deleting yourself.

Know what your network knows

Net-safety 201: Hide your net "location" ​with Tor - The Onion Browser

So Let's Recap:

To Conclude:

This Article is curated by Jerri P

Please, Make Cultural Change Happen | The Pulse, Orlando Shooting

Community Voices

Archives

Categories

Services

About

Contact Us

Other Services

Example: Youth Access to LGBTQ+ Resources

So what can Veteran’s and Allies Do?

Net-safety 201: Hide your net "location"
with Tor - The Onion Browser