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Good Stories are Powerful Lifelines.

Meet our new Resource Coordinator: Ricki Palmisano!

11/29/2018

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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?

Picture: Contact Northern Colorado Eclectic if you're local to Colorado. Link:https://nocoequality.org/ 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!
Picture: Beyond the Mirror is an awesome resource. Check it out if you are in Fort Collins. https://www.holistichealingandtherapycenter.com/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.
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Why and How to support LGBT+ military and veterans  | A Resource Packet for Veterans, and a How-to for everyone else

11/12/2018

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

  1. 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. 
  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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! ​
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Why Halloween is Just the Best for Invisible LGBTQ+ People

10/30/2018

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Ghosts and Goblins and Ghouls and Gender Bending Gays all around! 

Tomorrow kids will be knocking on your door, and most of the adults will be out to their own parties, dressed in a variety of different costumes from the sexy nurse, to Lumber-Jack Skellington (I'm disappointed the internet doesn't have a picture for that one).​
Halloween is upon us and conveniently, today is also the last day of LGBT+ history month, so in this blog, we'd like to take the time to reflect on the history of Halloween in the LGBT+ community and why this holiday's continued keeping is so important!
​
First, it should be noted:
​Halloween started out as a religious holiday and make no bones about it, it's still sacred for many.  Samhain (pronounced Sowwin) was the ancient Celtic religious holiday Halloween is currently known for.  Before it's "transition" and absorption within Christian and eventually corporate-culture, it was joined with a variety of other holidays around the fall by mostly northern-European people. 

The Italian people still celebrate Borgo a Mozzano throughout the month of October which looks more like Halloween than Samhain did and is the very likely "usurper."

This religious origin to Halloween does need to be respected, as do those who consider tomorrow night holy.  But this holiday is nothing like its previous form.  It's now considered "#GayChristmas."
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Thair (@forboyslikeme) on Oct 30, 2018 at 7:01am PDT

Halloween's Drag History

It should come as no surprise that a holiday about dressing up resulted in a few "drag" parties.  Cross-dressing is an irreverent, but accepted act on this most sacred of days for the LGBT+ community. 

In the 1950s-70s when being gay was outlawed, this allowed a kind of "acceptance" to bloom in gay bars and counter-cultural gathering places for the evening.  

Starting on the major coasts of the United States, many venues featured dress-up parties for the adults. For the closeted, invisible, gay clubs throughout the cities of San-Francisco, the out-and-proud, bold-and-beautiful drag scene which was often viewed as "a vaudeville stage show" got to shine proudly. 

This provided people a space.  A space to "negotiate" with the world around them and have a day where they could play with their genders and sexuality and have no recourse.  

This grew only more important in the 80's as the AIDS epidemic swept through.  

Halloween shifted at that time, from a holiday to play with your identity without stress, to a mardi-gras of sorts.  A day to cut loose, to be free, and to experience one's LGBT+ identity but also a day to remember the people who had been lost.  The people "who aren't at this party."

From that point forward, Halloween became synonymous with permission to be unabashedly gay.  Permission to be trans.  Permission to break the hard-and-fast societal rule loud and clear.  

Halloween's Global Popularization

Parties, Gay or straight, are fun.  Really fun.  And they look fun.  So they caught on. 

Moving into the late 80's and early 90s, American cultural festivities swept the nation and ran across seas.  According to CNN,  the British grocery store chain, Tesco's sales of pumpkins in 2005, was tripled by 2010, almost entirely because of British people picking up what was mostly a forgotten holiday until families saw Hocus Pocus and Nightmare Before Christmas.  

Popular culture - originally gay culture - created a holiday that adults could give their children.  It was fun, and most of all - it was consumable. It could sell. Now the holiday is celebrated worldwide in Japan, the UK, the middle east, Africa, everywhere.  

LGBTQ+ people the world over now "reap" the same benefits San Francisco did - identity negotiation.

What Halloween Means for Minorities

On any ordinary day, the idea of a man in a dress, or a gender-swapped Dean Winchester is not well regarded at the local grocery store.

Going to a party at a conservative friend's home "looking like a Dyke" is dangerous.  For teenagers, cross-dressing or using makeup is reserved for females, and assuming identities beyond that of traditional society is so frowned upon that we require organizations to provide support under the radar, half-way houses and homeless shelters when it goes wrong, and suicide-lifelines specifically for those people who do not conform. 

But on Halloween, you're most conservative of the conservative friends are okay with it all.  You can go out in public "in drag" you can go out with barely any clothes on at all, you can party and grind on anyone you want, and you have somewhat of a "pass."  It's Halloween and therefore expected that you'll assume the identity of someone they believe you're not.  

To the LGBTQ+ community, Halloween is a sacred holiday because it observes the hidden identities we want to "try on" alongside our silly costume.  We want to be the sexy ass-less chaps cowboy or the naughty nurse - we're allowed.  

​And that....is freeing.  

But if you can't participate

Participating in this idea of changing who you are to "try on" an identity is called Identity Tourism and it's not reserved for Halloween. 

You can also do it online, safely, without your parents knowing.

Come visit our peer support group, "bittersweet" tonight (10/30/18) to discuss how! 

If you don't qualify or were late to the party, no worries! 
Learn more about identity negotiation here
Picture
Or get ready to vote on november 6th with our voting toolkit! Why you may not vote and how to! 

Author:  Samantha V. Logan

Samantha is the Executive Director of RESCQU.NET, an online Community Manager, and full-stack marketer.  She launched Trans* Youth Channel in 2013 to record her transition and help other transgender people online transition safely.  She saw a need to protect people who weren't out yet, and transitioned the organization to make the site you see today.
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But Did They Listen?  The Impact of Nanette, One Year Later

10/16/2018

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"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

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! 
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Net Safety 201:  How to Mask Your presence with ToR Browser

10/2/2018

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Picture
At RESCQU.NET we service people who could be cut off from their family, hurt, kicked out, ridiculed, or worse, if it's discovered that they're accessing LGBT+ resources.

We often have to help people who, as a result of these situations, must be so far under the radar that no 5-step Infographic to internet safety will cut it (you should still start here though).  

So to help those of you in this tough spot, we have a living blog post, How to Keep your LGBTQ+ Identity Hidden Online. that we constantly update once per month so you can learn more about keeping yourself safe.

We've added a summary of this post to it, but here, we're talking about Net Safety Class 201:
ToR browser and erasing your "net presence". 

Before we can talk about ToR Though, we need to talk about your "IP address" or how the internet knows what computer you are accessing it from.

Your Address is Like Caller ID

Picture[Infographic] IP addresses and internet structure.
The Internet is generally a very open place.

Internet Protocol Addresses or IP addresses are like envelopes for your "data" that are used to get it from its starting point (your computer) to the end destination (where the information is) and back. 

IP addresses carry necessary data that the receiving device can authenticate you with, much like a caller ID. If you seem legit, they'll reply back, or save you into their "contacts" and "call you" later.

If someone can read all the places with your IP Addresses, they can piece together who you are, and what you see on the internet.

​While the average interested person, school, or company, doesn’t typically want to go through the hassle of putting all those pieces together, there's a point where you might find someone who is that interested. 

Like say, if you're a Bisexual teen with very "strict" parents and with strict parental control services.

So How Do You "Erase" your IP Address?

There are several ways to prevent IP addresses being linked to you and your information.

​Systems or devices that don't require a user name and password to gain access to the Internet are reasonably untraceable, but this isn’t always an option.  There could be time limitations, or people will catch on because systems are too public, or web filters block certain sites at libraries.

Anonymous proxies and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are other ways to hide IP addressees, which we'll save for later blogs, but even then, these are difficult to set up and get access to, may cost money to use, and initial access is usually tracked.

The easiest way to mask your IP Address is using Tor browser, “The Onion Router”.

What is ToR browser?

First, a quick definition of Tor Browser and then we'll explain:

Tor is a browser that inefficiently sends and repackages your data through several relays and special encryption hubs on the internet, before arriving at it's final location.  Sending your data through several extra stops makes it difficult to link the originator of the data request (you) to the target of the request (The site's servers with the information you wanted).

Whew, that’s a mouthful – let’s break that down a bit.
  • Routing is how data is directed through the Internet.
  • Packets are the bundles of data you sent out and their routing information
    (the from and to addresses on an Envelope). 
  • Encryption is a technique that scrambles information so no one, but the sender and receiver can understand it.

So basically, instead of sending a letter straight to your aunt:
  1. You send it to someone that takes your envelope and scrambles the to and from information.
  2. They put it in a new envelope and send it to someone else who does the same thing.
  3. Several times after this is repeated the last person holds on to all of those envelopes, removes your letter, repackages it, and sends the letter in a brand new envelope to your aunt. 
  4. That new letter can't be opened without the old envelopes and the new data, but to your aunt, it looks like it came from that last person in the chain.
  5. She responds to the letter back to that last person, they shove the return letter into that old envelope and do a “return to sender
  6. Each person in the chain repeats the process until your aunt's reply gets back to you.
  7. If the letter was intercepted by a nosy third party somewhere in the middle, or even at your aunt’s house, they wouldn’t know where it came from or where it was supposed to go. 

    Side Note: There’s real mail services that do something like this, if you'd like to have some fun.    ​ ​
ToR browser's primary strength is that it’s easy to download and use, and designed precisely to mask IP addresses without extra configuration (in most cases), It's pretty good right out of the box as that's exactly what w'ere trying to achieve here.

​​Tor’s primary weakness however is that you have to download it. It has to be on your system.

​If someone else is monitoring you or your system, just having the software may raise some suspicions. Tor downloads are often completely blocked on some sites and they will not allow you access via Tor browser.

Okay Cool.  So How Do I Start Using It?

Tor is best utilized via the “Tor Browser” which is available for free from http://www.torproject.org.

Basically, you download the browser, and start using it, it’s that simple.

However, there are some caveats and limitations on what Tor can do for you. There are a list of warnings from the download page that you should definitely read and consider. 

For example;
"Tor does not protect all of your computer's Internet traffic when you run it. Tor only protects your applications that are properly configured to send their Internet traffic through Tor.
So, if you use the Tor Browser, it’s easy.  If you want to use other network services (say Skype), there's a learning curve.  Aaand you've got some work to do.
​

So, I use Tor, and Then I’m Totally Safe, Right?

No. it’s not that simple.  

What we can say is, "Tor will ensure that your IP address isn’t recorded on the other end of your internet exchange." That’s it. 

There are a few problems.

1. Sticking out like a sore thumb
It’s similar to using a fake name when you go to a hotel a lot. After a while, if you're the only one using an alias, they can tell you're the one signing your bills Mary Winchester of Lawrence, Kansas.

if you’re the only one using Tor in your physical location on your Internet Service Provider's (ISP’s) network, eventually, with enough monitoring, the person you’re trying to avoid, will figure it out and you'll just stick out like a sore thumb.

The network administrator or authorities can pinpoint traffic right back to you.   Using services outside of Tor, alongside it is like using your real credit card to pay for the hotel under your fake name.

2. The Content is Still Readable
This also doesn’t immediately prevent your local network administrator from being able to see what you’re trying to send or what you get back (which is why Tor isn’t enough!).

You still need to follow the 101 tips we offered you in prior blogs to really utilize Tor’s benefits.

3.  The origin and destinations are still the same
Those first hops out to the Tor network have to go through your local network and ISP. Tor isn’t magic!

There are ways to provide extra security to help hide from local system administrators like using Tor bridges if your network administrators or your ISP block direct access to Tor, and obfuscation; doing things to make figuring out your data and where you’re sending it mor difficult.

The Bottom Line: This is a Wrench. You Need a Tool Box.

Tor is only one tool of several you can use to protect your online identity.  Over the course of the next several months, we hope to give you more tools that you can use in concert to keep yourself safe.  

Be on the lookout for them, and join our local support groups, and weekly email digest so we can give these resources to you manually - no digital paper trail.  
Simpler ways to keep your identity hidden onlnie
Why the web is built to out you in the first place

This Article is curated by Jerri P (updated monthly)

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.

Guest Author: Jeffery Kenworthy

Jeff is an avid user of Tor Browser and a "hacker in training".  He specializes in finding weak points in internet security for sites, databases, servers, and devices so software engineers can plug them.  He contributed a good deal to this article and hopes for LGBTQ+ safety to become a bigger issue in the Net Neutrality and Security debate.
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5 Easy Steps to Stay Safe & Anonymous on the Internet [Infographic]

9/25/2018

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In the past month we've discussed the internet's pension,
​both technologically, and culturally, to out you.   

But the internet's not doing this because it's bad.  It's because all the people who architect the websites and social channels you frequent think they're being helpful.  If they learn everything about you before you talk to them, they can better serve your needs.

But we know here at RESCQU NET, that your number one priority as a questioning, closeted, stealth, or under-resourced LGBT+ person is to be safe, secure, anonymous and in control while searching the internet for LGBT+ resources that are vital to you.  

So today we've whipped up a handy Infographic that turns our current blog, How to keep your LGBTQ+ identity hidden online, into 5 steps. 

Quick Note Though: be sure to check in on the blog because we continually add to it and put a few more tricks up your sleeve (lookin' at you, teens). 
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1. Create A Separate Email Address  

With all of the personal information the internet can view, the safest place for a closeted individual is in their private email inbox, but even that's worrisome.  

Create a seperate, secure, non-gmail related email to collect resources.

2. Use Private Browsing Modes 

​The second you leave your inbox, visit a website, or fill out a form, the internet uses data-tracking systems to record your presence. 

To prevent this, find and use your browser's private or "incognito" mode. 

3. ​Remove Yourself From History

Even in private mode, people can peak at your computer's search history if they gain access to it.  Remember to always log out, clear files you've downloaded...

...and delete your search history with a program like CCleaner. 

4. Find The Right Times AND Places 

The old adage, "hide a tree in a forest", applies here.  If your spaces are not safe, consider using library computers, cafe Wi-Fi, or public resources, to access ours.

Interact with us when you feel safest, and know you're ready.

5. Anonymously Collect Resources 

Learn more about the community and safely acquire information, support, &  LGBTQ+ resources on the living, blog post below; How to keep your LGBTQ+ identity hidden online.
Learn more Cool Tricks to Stay anonymous

Author & Illustrator:  Samantha V. Logan

Samantha is the Executive Director of RESCQU.NET, an online Community Manager, and full-stack marketer.  She launched Trans* Youth Channel in 2013 to record her transition and help other transgender people online transition safely.  She saw a need to protect people who weren't out yet, and transitioned the organization to make the site you see today.
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How many conversations does it take to convince people you’re bisexual?

9/15/2018

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4.1% of the US population (minimum) consider
​the following questions every day:
  • When did you know that you're [insert gender here]?
  • When did you know that you liked [insert gender(s)
    you're attracted to]?

​If you feel you may be one of those 4.1%  I want you to know, up front, I am here for you.  This blog is intended to provide you
support, friendship, and the resources you need. You’re not alone.

​For the other 95.9% of the population, I’d like to ask:
  • Have you ever considered having to defend your
    sexual preferences before now? 
  • How much thought did you really have to put into it? 
  • Have you ever had to carefully word your answers in fear
    of someone responding negatively to them? 
“When did you come out?”
...is a frustrating question for a lot of people, including myself and contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t just happen once. As a bisexual woman engaged to a man, this question is never-ending. I usually answer via memorized script:
“I guess I technically came out in the eighth grade to my best friends, I came out in the ninth grade to all non-family, and to my parents my junior year of high school, when I got my first serious girlfriend."
After being “out” for eight years, this is still the best response that I plan to come up with.
​
I am exhausted from having to think about it so much. It’s like being in one class and having a teacher call on you ten times in a row to answer the same question.  Then the teacher is disturbed by your anger the tenth time around when you snap.

I am comfortable with my sexuality, but you need to be comfortable believing that.
Everyone else seems to need more information before I am allowed to call myself “bisexual.”  I’m in a relationship with a woman? Clearly, I’ve just chosen a side.  I’m in a relationship with a man? Welp, I’m clearly not LGBTQ anymore.

​I am not a book to be analyzed or a film to be critiqued, yet everyone seems to have their own opinion based on my actions, rather than just believing how I feel. 

This constant parade of questions is mentally exhausting, and emotionally deteriorating.


​Blogger McKenna Ferguson explains the effects of this constant doubt best in her piece,  “If You’re Going to Mislabel My Bisexuality, Just Don’t Call Me Straight.” She goes through, in excrutiating detail, her problems gaining access to LGBTQ spaces because of being mislabeled.


So, to be clear:  I am the B in LGBTQ+, and I need these spaces, too.

It is embarrassing and disheartening to go to a support group and have to defend my right to be there. It’s a place I go for safety and comfort, but it’s almost worse than explaining my sexuality to straight people because there is this sense that I’m trying to invade and even steal away people’s “safe space.”
This problem tends to arise because of people’s understanding (or lack thereof) of bisexuality.
You see, there’s this new phrase floating around: “practicing bisexual.”

​It was probably made most famous in an interview between Larry King and Anna Paquin. [the bisexuality comment happens around -11 min]. If you’d rather not watch the clip, here’s the short version:

King insists that Paquin cannot be a practicing bisexual because she’s married. She is clearly uncomfortable with this definition and sticks to her guns that she can be married and bisexual. I am totally with her.I would say that I am a “practicing bisexual” because I am actively alive and bisexual.

I’m not saying that Larry King invented this idea that bisexuals are irrelevant once they're in a monogamous relationship, but he did give it a word and made it more real for people who already were in that mindset. So now, we as bisexual people, have to deal with it.

All of this has added up to one ongoing hurdle bi/pan people deal with: the “out” questions.

To a lot of people, after answering the questions, I am too straight to be gay and too gay to be straight or confused or lying for attention. I am certain that I am not alone in this hurdle.

So if you’re...
​questioning your sexuality, if you experience bi-erasure, feel you have no support because people think you don’t belong in the community, or you or someone you know has struggled with this, I have a resource for you: 

Consider joining the online support group: Bittersweet. We started it specifically to solve this problem. I sooo wish I had this group when I was discovering my identity and I’m glad you have it now.  

You can sign up here.  The next meeting is LITERALLY TONIGHT! I'll likely see you there <3
Sign up for Bitter / Sweet

About 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.
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Why I Started Bitter/Sweet & How Our First Group Went

9/10/2018

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Hello, my name is Lane....

And despite my constantly busy life, I've never stopped trying to find ways to give a little bit more of my time to under-privileged communities. 

I’ve worked as a counselor for troubled youth, I’ve participated in local LGBTQ+ support groups, and in college I ran a queer identified women's' support group called QWEEN (it's still running actually).

And as a married bisexual woman I've experienced more bi-erasure than I could wish on anyone - from both straight and queer communities. Even during my time running QWEEN at college, I can recall more than one instance of being questioned for allowing bi/pan individuals as regular members.

​Much of why I feel tension exists within the community about bisexuality is because we do honestly have the privilege of living under the radar. At the time same time, however, that means our identity is usually not acknowledged or given a safe space to exist. It’s a Bitter / Sweet experience. 

So about a month ago, Samantha, RESCQU NET's Executive Director, contacted me about a new support group program we're now officially launching next week (18th)! 

Based on my previous support group experience, facilitating seemed like a role I could easily step into and a great opportunity to help support the community.  I was happy to join the newly formed team.

During our initial talks, we tried to narrow down what direction this group would take and the one that stood out to me personally was leading a group for bisexual individuals who feel their identity is more often than not swept under the rug. 

With this group, Bitter / Sweet, I can support Bi and queer people like me, and help the straight individuals in their lives who don’t understand.
As a married bisexual woman I've experienced more Bi-erasure than I could wish on anyone - from both straight and queer communities. ~ Lane Ramsay
As the day of the first meeting grew nearer, my anxiety was building up. I wanted to make sure that this group was successful and that those who reached out would feel secure and safe coming back to each meeting. The hour before the group I was pacing across my living room. My husband had to calm me down and force me to take a few deep breaths. 

The group officially began and after some nervous introductions, we jumped right into members detailing stories about their experiences.

There was point about halfway through the meeting when things started to flow more naturally and members felt more comfortable with one another. Questions were asked, advice was given, and thoughts and personal experiences were shared between the group members. 

Each person seemed more than willing to open up and I started to see the members form bonds out of their shared experiences. I felt relieved, and happy to see the potential of Bitter / Sweet. 


So, can you do us a quick favor?
In an effort to make sure Bitter / Sweet continues we are doing all we can to reach out to the larger community. We need your help to spread the word to those who could also benefit from this space.

The resources shared between members will benefit each person who attends and serve as a reminder that they are not alone, they do exist, and they need resources just like everyone else.

Help us out by Sharing this article, and if you believe in this group like I do,  donate $10 dollars to fund our next group!
How to keep your identity hidden online
Why the web is built to out you

Author: Lane Ramsay

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 counseling for with us now.  Join her group! 
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Why the Web is Built to “Out” you, and How You Can Avoid It

9/6/2018

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Since the internet discovered how to monetize social media, websites have become increasingly focused on you - the consumer - and your data as the product.  

This has put capturing your data front-and-center for business and the ways it captures that data is rarely clear.  

Still, the Facebook real-names policy and the Cambridge Analytica scandal have proven that blindly providing data without consent, is extremely dangerous if you’re an LGBTQ+ person who hasn’t come out yet.

In this blog we’ll explain why the internet is so hungry for your data and at what point capturing your data becomes intrusive. And of course, we wouldn’t be responsible if we didn’t offer some ways for you to handle it at the end.

Before we start, I’d like to say we are not focusing on the technical aspects of your safety.
We have an entire blog dedicated to keeping you safe online.  

Here, we’re gonna focus on the marketing tactics that convince you, to hand over your identity.

Most data is actually fine. It’s just used wrong.

To start off, let’s say it straight.  Not all data collection is bad - far from it - but you need to know how and when your identity gets into the hands of people who can “out” you.  

This starts with intent.

The first thing that pops into people's heads when they hear about others abusing their online data, is the hacker.  Humped over their computer, looking at their screen in a dark room, with your bank account information in their “sites”. This is a stereotype, and it’s very wrong.
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The notion of a hacker collecting and abusing your data is a stereotype.
In reality, it's really well-meaning companies trying to cater to your consumer needs.
Hackers serve a lot of different roles on the web.  Their intent is defined by the "hat" they are wearing when they work.  There are white hats, grey hats, and black hats (and yes, you can think of them like Jedi, Grey Jedi, and Sith Lords).  Marketing is the same. ​
Virtually all online fields break down into these categories. 

White hat marketers are people who are trying to market to you online with good intentions and ethics at the top of their mind.  These people tend to prescribe to the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) who believe that ads done right, mean ads you care about and want to see, are all you see.  

These marketers, and the programmers who build their sites, are geared toward helping you seamlessly attain what you need to go from point A - you need something - to point B - you have it.

To do that, marketers use a variety of “tactics” to get what they need from you without being annoying. Most of these involve the "collection" of “harmless data” called “behavioral tracking”.

To understand how this works, let’s consider the Marketing Funnel. 

This is a strategy that suggests you need time to understand what you’re buying.  You need to feel comfortable with who your purchasing it from, and make the decision to purchase it.  
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The idea is:
  1. They will first get your attention,
  2. Then offer a way to stay in contact in exchange for an email or subscription.
  3. They’ll provide a low-ball offer to get you on board and excited,
  4. And hen they’ll provide some information on what they sell.
  5. If you want it, you’ll buy it.  And then, hopefully, you'll talk about it.

Each step of the way you provide just a little more data and they'e getting consent to have your data every step of the way.  ​

​And this isn't bad.

Our Bisexual/Pansexual support group requires enough information to ensure security for others when you join the group. We have to prove you are who you are, but you are anonymous.

So instead we:
  1. Get your attention to let you know you're traceable online, and show you how to hide,
  2. Offer a weekly digest that provides you all of our resources in exchange for an email,
  3. Publish blogs and deliver content to you with suggestions to join our support groups,
  4. And eventually get you to come to one, enjoy it, and share it with others as a resource.

This works for us as a vetting process for us, and it gives you resources you need without feeling negative about it.   

Much of the information websites collect involve this “white hat” level of marketing.  A lot of it improves your user experience on the internet, but things get dicey as people begin to follow you around, either to personalize your ads or more devastatingly, sell information about you to ad agencies.

You don’t have control over data collected or it's use

Now let's back up a second.

​There’s nothing inherently bad about a website installing a cookie on your computer. 

​But if that cookie is used by other agencies to identify you, it can be devastating.  

A 2014 Time magazine article identified a pregnant woman whose ads discovered she was pregnant before she could tell the father.  This is daily life for closeted LGBTQ+ people now, and even with the greatest of precautions...

The internet’s current architecture is built to out you.  

In that same Time article, the author tried to remain anonymous on the web about her own pregnancy for all nine months.  She didn’t succeed because companies who were tracking her data, were providing that data to companies who had nothing to do with her.  She “opted-out” of data collection for one business, but the other businesses she had no idea were watching her, outed her anyway.

This woman was careful.  She took greater precautions than we ever recommend, and still, the marketing practices attempting to sell her products she would need, over-zealously outed her as an expecting parent to her friends and family.

According to Andy Yen, “the business model of the Internet today really isn't compatible with privacy. Just take a look at some of the biggest names on the web, and you see that advertising plays a huge role. In fact, this year alone, advertising is $137 billion dollars, and to optimize the ads that are shown to us, companies have to know everything about us.”

So what can you do about it? 

So what’s to be done about it?

The answer to what we can do about this is hard. RESCQU NET has been working since 2013 to keep you safe on the internet, but those efforts could only be found in “technology”.  

It made sense because it was the only thing you as a closeted, stealth, questioning, or under-resourced LGBT+ person had control of - the device in your hands.  You can keep yourself safe by following these rules on our blog about anonymity but we're quickly finding, that's not enough.

As with the reporter who failed to stay anonymous, even after making herself look like a criminal,
this is not everything we can, should, or even must do.  ​
 “The business model of the Internet today really isn't compatible with privacy. ​To optimize the ads that are shown to us, companies have to know everything about us.” ~ Andy Yen
If we are to ensure your safety 

we need to be a website that helps you remove your presence from the internet,
by reducing your reliance on the internet.  

We will help you move your interactions with LGBT+ resources away from websites, marketing funnels, and emails, and toward unrecorded private channels.

Our online support groups allow you to attain resources in an unrecorded environment.  We just started our bisexual/pansexual group, bittersweet, availble September 18th, and it's working well.

We are also committing to changing the way people collect your data by working with our partner organizations to make them more closet-friendly and amenable to anonimity on our resources page.

If you feel lost, need a little extra help, or someone to talk to, consider joining one of our support groups at support.rescqu.net!  

​Our facilitator Lane created Bitter / Sweet because she was tired of Bi-erasure throwing her into the closet constantly, and she wants to support you too.
​
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Author: Samantha V Logan

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Samantha is the Executive Director of RESCQU.NET, an online Community Manager, and full-stack marketer.  She launched Trans* Youth Channel in 2013 to record her transition and help other transgender people online transition safely.  She saw a need to protect people who weren't out yet, and transitioned the organization to make the site you see today.
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How to Keep your LGBTQ Identity Hidden Online

9/4/2018

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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: 
  • 5 easy steps to protect yourself  [Infographic]
  • Use Incognito/private mode and clear your history.**
  • ​Beware out-links to platforms that don't respect your data as much.**
  • Use a second e-mail (or disposable e-mail) that people don’t know and you don’t regularly use
  • Always log out and delete any files you generate or download**
  • ​Use an un-monitored network

Net-Safety 201: 
  • Protect your "Location" IP Address using Tor - the onion browser.
**= new!
 
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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:
  • Firefox default download directory
  • Opera default download directory
  • IE default download directory
  • Edge default download directory
  • Chrome default download directory
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: 
  • 5 easy steps to protect yourself  [Infographic]
  • Use Incognito/private mode and clear your history.**
  • ​Beware out-links to platforms that don't respect your data as much.**
  • Use a second e-mail (or disposable e-mail) that people don’t know and you don’t regularly use
  • Always log out and delete any files you generate or download**
  • ​Use an un-monitored network

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.

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