lgbtq
LGBTQ+ Safety Overview
Neutral, practical safety steps tailored for LGBTQ+ individuals experiencing DV.
lgbtq safety
Safety Overview
LGBTQ+ Safety Overview
How This Page Can Help
This page outlines common safety considerations for LGBTQ+ people, with a focus on housing, technology, and identity-related risks. It is designed as a practical reference for reviewing your current situation and identifying options.
Housing-Related Risks
LGBTQ+ people can face housing-specific risks from partners, family, roommates, landlords, or neighbors. Reviewing these areas can help you plan for safety and stability.
Risks in Shared Housing
- Partner, family, or roommates:
- Controlling who can visit or who you can talk to
- Monitoring your movements in and out of the home
- Threatening to “out” you to other people in the building
- Taking or damaging your ID, bank cards, hormones, or other personal items
- Blocking you from using shared spaces (kitchen, bathroom, living room)
- Landlords or building staff:
- Making discriminatory comments about your gender identity, sexuality, or partners
- Ignoring safety concerns you raise (locks, lighting, harassment)
- Sharing personal information with neighbors without your consent
- Neighbors:
- Harassing you about your gender presentation, pronouns, or visitors
- Reporting you or your guests to management or authorities in a targeted way
- Taking photos or videos of you or your visitors around the building
Things You May Want to Review in Your Housing
- Entrances and exits:
- How you usually enter and leave (main entrance, side doors, elevator, stairs)
- Whether anyone regularly waits for you in these areas
- Locks and keys:
- Who has keys or access codes to your home
- Whether there are interior locks on your room or other spaces
- If spare keys are stored somewhere others can reach
- Personal documents and items:
- Where your ID, bank cards, medications, and key documents are kept
- Whether someone else can easily access or move them
- Whether you want copies stored in a separate safe place
- Communication inside the home:
- Who can overhear your calls or see your messages
- Whether there are shared devices (tablets, laptops, smart TVs, gaming systems)
- If you use headphones and screen locks when possible
- Guests and partners:
- Any rules others in the home have set around who can visit
- How those rules are enforced and whether they feel safe for you
- Whether you are being pressured to hide relationships or visitors
Housing Options to Consider
- Short-term options:
- Friends or community members who understand your privacy and identity needs
- Local LGBTQ+-friendly shelters or transitional housing, where available
- Community centers, faith spaces, or campus resources that may know affirming housing resources
- Longer-term options:
- Roommate agreements that clearly outline visitors, privacy, and shared spaces
- Landlords or property managers with a track record of non-discrimination
- Housing programs that indicate specific support for LGBTQ+ tenants
- Documentation and records:
- Keeping copies of your lease, utility bills, and rent receipts
- Recording dates and details of discrimination or harassment related to housing
- Saving written communication about threats to “out” you in relation to your home
Technology-Related Risks
Technology can be used both as a tool and as a method of control. LGBTQ+ people may be targeted online because of identity, relationships, or community visibility.
Common Technology Risks
- Devices and accounts:
- Partners, family, or others who know your passwords or device PINs
- Shared phones, computers, or tablets with synced accounts
- Auto-login to email, social media, banking, or health portals
- Location and tracking:
- Location sharing turned on in messaging apps or social media
- Shared device location (for example, “Find My” type services)
- Smart home devices that track entries, exits, or movement in a space
- Online harassment and threats:
- Targeted abuse in LGBTQ+ forums, dating apps, or social media
- Threats to share screenshots, private messages, or photos without consent
- Impersonation accounts created in your name
- Outing through technology:
- Someone posting your identity, photos, or relationship details publicly
- Being tagged in photos or events that reveal your identity or relationships
- Saved chats or images being shown to family, work, school, or community members
Technology Safety Steps to Review
- Access and passwords:
- Which accounts are logged in on shared or former devices
- Whether password reset emails or codes go to accounts you control
- Where multi-factor authentication codes are sent (SMS, app, email)
- Privacy settings:
- Who can see your posts, photos, and friend lists on social media
- Which apps have access to your location, microphone, and camera
- Whether your identity labels or pronouns are public or limited to certain groups
- Location sharing:
- Any active “share location” settings with partners, friends, or family
- Public location tags on posts (check-ins, geotagged photos)
- Location stored in photos’ metadata when sending or uploading images
- Backups and history:
- Cloud backups that might store sensitive photos, documents, or conversations
- Browser history and saved passwords on shared or monitored devices
- Trust settings on devices (for example, computers you marked as “trusted”)
Options for Increasing Technology Safety
- Creating separation:
- Using a separate email for sensitive accounts (dating, support groups, legal, health)
- Using messaging apps that allow disappearing messages or additional locks
- Having a secondary device that is not shared and is stored securely
- Adjusting online visibility:
- Limiting who can see your friend list, followers, and tagged photos
- Reviewing past posts that might reveal your location, routine, or identity
- Removing or changing public-facing information that feels unsafe
- Documenting technology-based harm:
- Taking screenshots of threatening or abusive messages
- Saving email headers where harassment is happening by email
- Keeping a simple log of dates, apps used, and usernames involved
Identity-Specific Threats
Relationship harm against LGBTQ+ people often includes threats or actions that target identity, community ties, and access to care or support.
Common Identity-Specific Tactics
- Threats to “out” you:
- To family members, including those who may be unsupportive
- To workplaces, schools, religious communities, or landlords
- On social media or public platforms, using your name or photos
- Control through identity:
- Insisting you hide your gender expression, pronouns, or partners in public
- Using your deadname or incorrect pronouns as a form of control
- Preventing you from attending LGBTQ+ spaces or events
- Isolation from community:
- Pressuring you to cut off contact with affirming friends or groups
- Monitoring or questioning your involvement in online LGBTQ+ spaces
- Spreading rumors about you in community circles or group chats
- Interference with care:
- Blocking access to gender-affirming care, medication, or appointments
- Threatening to disclose your identity to providers without consent
- Controlling transportation or finances needed for appointments
Planning Around Identity-Related Risks
- Information control:
- Which people or institutions know your legal name, chosen name, and pronouns
- Which identities you share in different settings (work, school, family, online)
- How much personal history you want available in public profiles
- Community connections:
- Local or online groups that are identity-affirming and understand privacy needs
- Trusted contacts you can talk to about potential threats to “out” you
- Spaces where you can use your correct name and pronouns without added risk
- Health and support services:
- Providers who indicate experience with LGBTQ+ patients and confidentiality
- Legal names and contact information listed on medical or school records
- What would happen if someone tried to call a provider pretending to be you
Documentation and Evidence
Some people find it useful to keep records of identity-based threats or harm, especially when it involves outing, housing, or technology.
- What you might document:
- Text messages, emails, or social media messages that threaten to out you
- Logs of harassment from neighbors, landlords, or coworkers tied to your identity
- Any online posts created in your name without your consent
- How you might store it:
- In a secure cloud folder only you can access
- On a password-protected device that others do not use
- Printed copies stored outside your current home, if that feels safer
- What to keep in mind:
- Whether storing certain items (for example, screenshots) could increase risk if discovered
- Whether a trusted person could hold copies for you
- Options for accessing this information if you lose a device or move suddenly
Supportive and Identity-Aware Resources
Many general relationship harm resources are becoming more identity-aware and may offer specific information for LGBTQ+ people. Some national and local organizations listed at https://www.dv.support describe whether they provide LGBTQ+-specific services or training for staff.
Laws, policies, and available services vary by location. This overview is informational and does not replace legal advice, medical guidance, or individual safety planning with a professional.
Personal Safety Review Checklist
- Housing:
- Who controls access to your home and your personal items
- Any current threats to expose your identity to landlords, neighbors, or housemates
- Alternative places you could go, even for short periods, if home feels unsafe
- Technology:
- Devices or accounts that others can open, unlock, or reset
- Apps that share your location or activity without you realizing
- Accounts connected to your identity or relationships that feel exposed
- Identity-specific risks:
- People who might try to use your identity or relationships as leverage
- Places where being outed could harm your housing, work, or schooling
- Trusted contacts who understand your identity and respect your privacy
- Documentation:
- Evidence of threats or harm you may want to keep
- Safe ways to store or back up important records
- What you would want to take with you (IDs, meds, devices) in a sudden move