![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[Edited, now that I've cooled down *a little*]
One of my previously favorite pagan conferences (PantheaCon, to name and shame) is once again asking for the Legal Name of it's presenters!! I am so pissed off that I can barely type!! Who in the FUCK do they think they are, to demand that I expose MY name, MY security, and MY privacy in the current political climate for the dubious priviledge of volunteering to present for THEM??
I wonder how many times thay've been "sneak and peaked" by the "friendly" new Gestapo, yet they still want this kind of data?? I know they've already removed me from their mailing list because I won't use my real name (I still find out anyway - my roomie gets their stuff.)
It's bad enough that one of my former favorite science fiction conventions (BayCon, to name and shame) wants to slap your legal name and your city right on your badge (great for stalkers who meet you at cons), and demands fucking ID to pick up your badge, even if you paid cash on the spot!! What the fuck happened to the fannish respect for privacy, damnit!!!!!!!
Now, a Pagan Conference that should damn well KNOW BETTER wants the legal name and address of its Presenters.
Well, if the fucking chickenshit sheep among the pagan and fannish community want to play along with the "You don't need no stinkin' privacy" game, fine. You will be the easiest for the theocratic regime that's almost here to find, and stuff into John Ashcroft's camps. If those who want to present or attend at these events REFUSE TO PLAY ALONG with this fascist nonsense, they will have to change their horst wessel song.
I really don't care "why" they say they have to - it's all flimsy ass bullshit to disguise their nosiness and need to suck up and be seen as "responsible" the new Gestapo. Here are some of the excuses I've heard:
1) "emergency information" (if you wanted that, you'd ask for an emergency contact, not someone's "legal name" - and paramedics won't ask the organizers anyway - they'll look for ID, not some flimsy "badge"),
2) "in case of trouble" (any troublemakers are going to ditch their badges first, unless they're amateurs, who will get caught in the act anyway),
3) "insurance" or "hotel needs" (unless the hotel makes ALL guests, visitors, and staff wear nametags, it is functionally yellow star discrimination),
4) needed for business/tax purposes (anonymous transactions and donations are completely legal, and presenter volunteers are doing them a favor anyway) ,
5) "liability" (if I'm stalked or harassed because they required me to display my name and city of residence, I will sue THEM!).
I must now resign myself to not attending some of my favorite events, because the organizers have bought into the "identity papers" slave mentality. They were doing this shit before 9/11, so it has nothing to do with that. Besides, "identity" papers didn't stop the 9/11 highjackers, people.
I urge you all to boycott all fannish and/or pagan events that require that you provide the organizers with your "legal name". As long as you do not use it to defraud anyone, PSEUDONYMS ARE LEGAL, and should be respected. Don't make people who value their privacy have to chose between their privacy and the event.
One of my previously favorite pagan conferences (PantheaCon, to name and shame) is once again asking for the Legal Name of it's presenters!! I am so pissed off that I can barely type!! Who in the FUCK do they think they are, to demand that I expose MY name, MY security, and MY privacy in the current political climate for the dubious priviledge of volunteering to present for THEM??
I wonder how many times thay've been "sneak and peaked" by the "friendly" new Gestapo, yet they still want this kind of data?? I know they've already removed me from their mailing list because I won't use my real name (I still find out anyway - my roomie gets their stuff.)
It's bad enough that one of my former favorite science fiction conventions (BayCon, to name and shame) wants to slap your legal name and your city right on your badge (great for stalkers who meet you at cons), and demands fucking ID to pick up your badge, even if you paid cash on the spot!! What the fuck happened to the fannish respect for privacy, damnit!!!!!!!
Now, a Pagan Conference that should damn well KNOW BETTER wants the legal name and address of its Presenters.
Well, if the fucking chickenshit sheep among the pagan and fannish community want to play along with the "You don't need no stinkin' privacy" game, fine. You will be the easiest for the theocratic regime that's almost here to find, and stuff into John Ashcroft's camps. If those who want to present or attend at these events REFUSE TO PLAY ALONG with this fascist nonsense, they will have to change their horst wessel song.
I really don't care "why" they say they have to - it's all flimsy ass bullshit to disguise their nosiness and need to suck up and be seen as "responsible" the new Gestapo. Here are some of the excuses I've heard:
1) "emergency information" (if you wanted that, you'd ask for an emergency contact, not someone's "legal name" - and paramedics won't ask the organizers anyway - they'll look for ID, not some flimsy "badge"),
2) "in case of trouble" (any troublemakers are going to ditch their badges first, unless they're amateurs, who will get caught in the act anyway),
3) "insurance" or "hotel needs" (unless the hotel makes ALL guests, visitors, and staff wear nametags, it is functionally yellow star discrimination),
4) needed for business/tax purposes (anonymous transactions and donations are completely legal, and presenter volunteers are doing them a favor anyway) ,
5) "liability" (if I'm stalked or harassed because they required me to display my name and city of residence, I will sue THEM!).
I must now resign myself to not attending some of my favorite events, because the organizers have bought into the "identity papers" slave mentality. They were doing this shit before 9/11, so it has nothing to do with that. Besides, "identity" papers didn't stop the 9/11 highjackers, people.
I urge you all to boycott all fannish and/or pagan events that require that you provide the organizers with your "legal name". As long as you do not use it to defraud anyone, PSEUDONYMS ARE LEGAL, and should be respected. Don't make people who value their privacy have to chose between their privacy and the event.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
What are you hiding?
What are you hiding from?
Do you not want to acknowledge who you are?
I've known you for many years, Raven. I have been on both sides of this coin. Neither is fully right.
FWIW
Blackheart
From:
no subject
Devil's advocates are fun... ;-)
What are you hiding?
My mundane, professional name and identity, thus my means of generating a living. My location, car registration, and all of that other good stuff from stalkers, whether civilian or so-called law enforcement. I want someone who wants to harass me at my home or work to have to work, and even break laws, before they can do it.
What are you hiding from?
Idiots, fundies, stalkers, and other people who would disturb my, and my relatives', privacy, peace and quiet. I have a fairly distinctive legal name. I don't want to be leafletted, picketted, my car or home windows broken, or any other shit that comes with being known as pagan when I have an easily found name. I owe my friends and relatives that courtesy, as well as preserving my own privacy.
Do you not want to acknowledge who you are?
Non sequiter. I am not the label of my "legal name", or my psuedonym, my nom de net, or the name of any character I chose to play in a game. I am me. A label does not define who I am.
I use my legal name for contracts, professional business, and other legally binding matters. I am not ashamed of it, but it does not define me, or all of my opinions. It is one label I use for one part of my life. I may someday have corporations and dba's as well. It's all part of me.
My "legal" name is mine, to use, or not, as I see fit. I am under no obligation to provide it to any odd twit who wants it, or change it to suit anyone's demands.
It's a fundamental building block of privacy: control over who has your "legal" name in their records.
From:
Re:
One point I will make is that in a very real legal sence, they do need your legal name. You, as a presenter, represent Pantheacon durning that weekend. If something you say or do injures someone else, Pcon can be sued. But, as was the case last year in the program book, your legal name does not and should not be posted anywhere outside formal paper work.
If you want me to pursue this further, I would be happy to. Email me directly (norsebiker@yahoo.com)with the issues you (and anyone else) have and I will take them to Glenn and see what I can do.
Hopefully I am not opening myself to a can of worms.
Thanks
Blackheart
From:
no subject
why not ask me since I'm one of the Programming heads?
We have always asked for legal names, we dont REQUIRE legal names, there is a difference.
And I really doubt Glenn has any interest in turning names over to anyone.
From:
no subject
As far as wanting to, well, the FBI can do sneak and peak searches now. The boss of the lot is that fundie Ashcroft.
If I were in Glenn's place, I'd invest in a shredder, and shred anything customer personal info that I wasn't actually using for a mailing list or that wasn't required for bookkeping and tax purposes. But I'm paranoid.
YMMV. BTW, the presentation I'd want to do would be a workshop lecture/lab on DarkWork - with the practical on one of Fear or Anger, maybe Envy. (http://www.rahul.net/rasteris/diamond/darkwork.shtml)
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject