Airport body scanners

[lj72000]

Has anyone gone through the new body scanners?
i am a post op..but i wear a prosthetic penis. i have had my name and gender changed. i am planning on traveling overseas to get married with my girlfriend in her country. Any advise for me of previous experience? Thank you

[Jay]

Put the prosthetic in the luggage. Better save than sorry. I haven't packed through security and don't tend on doing either in the future.

Jay

[Wolf Man]

I agree with Jay that you're better safe than sorry, but here's a video from an FTM who had to deal with Airport Security with such things.

http://www.youtube.com/user/DominoAyeJae#p/u/62/xwRCN9xVgwQ

At about 3:20 he talks about the x-ray and his packer.

[Lachlann]

I agree with Jay that you're better safe than sorry, but here's a video from an FTM who had to deal with Airport Security with such things.

http://www.youtube.com/user/DominoAyeJae#p/u/62/xwRCN9xVgwQ

lol I knew you were going to link him.

[sneakersjay]

I pack 24/7 and have flown more than a dozen times.  Everyone is worrying for nothing.  It is a non-issue.  Pack and Fly!

So many non-trans people have prosthetics of all sorts, other men wear 'enhancements' as do many women who stuff their bras.  And so many people also wear other medical appliances and bags (colonostomy?).  TSA isn't interested in our fake dicks.


Jay

[Adio]

Watched the video.  I thought the guy handled the situation extremely well.  I'm going to have to fly either this spring or summer most likely so this is important to me as well.  I just recently had the thought to buy an extra packer and put it in my luggage.  That way if TSA, for some reason, decided my packy was a threat to national security and confiscated it, I would have an extra one when I landed.  Or pack with the extra and store my regular, either way.

[lj72000]

I pack 24/7 and have flown more than a dozen times.  Everyone is worrying for nothing.  It is a non-issue.  Pack and Fly!

So many non-trans people have prosthetics of all sorts, other men wear 'enhancements' as do many women who stuff their bras.  And so many people also wear other medical appliances and bags (colonostomy?).  TSA isn't interested in our fake dicks.


Jay

Thank you for replying...i have just heard some horror stories about security and transmen...and how they are treated at the airports. This will be my first time flying since everything was done. And also is it true that after your sex change you are red flagged for two years ?

[tekla]

Just read the rules and follow them to the letter.  And remember that the person who was the dumbest kid in your class would probably be to smart to work TSA, so play it straight down the line.  If my experience is any indication they are too busy searching people in wheelchairs and old ladies to worry about anything real. 

[sneakersjay]

Thank you for replying...i have just heard some horror stories about security and transmen...and how they are treated at the airports. This will be my first time flying since everything was done. And also is it true that after your sex change you are red flagged for two years ?

No idea.

Nobody has searched me at all, except to see what that 'large container' was in my bag - my Shower-to-Shower powder, so on the next leg of the trip I pulled it out with my gels.  My guess is that guys who have been harrassed may have been acting nervously or whatever and that is what drew the TSA's attention to them, not because they were trans. 

The first time I flew post-T and was passing my ID did not match, and nobody said a word.  Well except one airport person who decided to yell ma'am, ma'am at me in a crowded terminal after looking at my ID for something.  That was annoying.

Like Tekla said, they are not the brightest bulbs, so acting like a disinterested bored traveler and complying with all of the rules and being polite helps.

Jay

[Carson]

Thank you for replying...i have just heard some horror stories about security and transmen...and how they are treated at the airports. This will be my first time flying since everything was done. And also is it true that after your sex change you are red flagged for two years ?

I think that is for anyone when you change documentation. They just "keep an eye on you" to make sure that you weren't lying when you said that you weren't changing your name to get out of anything and for fraud.

[xxaussiexx]

The whole idea of these full body scanners makes myh blood boil.  They may as well just ask u to strip off and check you out themselves.  So many people, mostly trans, are going to get harrassed quite a lot now...and we shouldnt have to explain and expose ourselves!! I cant believe it...

[Alessandro]

The whole idea of these full body scanners makes myh blood boil.  They may as well just ask u to strip off and check you out themselves.  So many people, mostly trans, are going to get harrassed quite a lot now...and we shouldnt have to explain and expose ourselves!! I cant believe it...

I know. I reckon when I transition I'll have to give up air travel.  I just don't have the guts. 

[GQjoey]

Like others have said - these aren't being put into place to "out" anybody. It's for OUR safety, and as embarrassing as it may be, why do I give two dueces? Not like I will see, so and so, watching me walk through, ever again in my life.
After dbag boarded the plane with some bunk ass bomb strapped to his c-piece, I'd rather be humiliated/embarrassed for my own insecurties, for 20 seconds, than blow up on a plane. I promise you, whoever IS watching you standing there..is going to be too shell-shocked to ask any questions..Just my 2 cents.

[ducknark]

I am FTM and recently traveled from Richmond, VA, to Orlando, Florida, and passed through one of these full body scanners on my way.  They stopped me and scanned me a second time, then pulled me into a little room where they proceeded to pat me down--all the way up my legs, across my packer twice, across my chest--it was awful.  They almost didn't let me fly, even though I told them I was trans.  The security guard told me as I was leaving, "You should check "that" (looking at my crotch) in your luggage on the way back so you don't have this problem."  Excuse me?  I need to check my penis?  Do you tell this to all the boys?

Altogether one of the most humiliating experiences of my life.

[Sean]

I have flown repeatedly in the last two months, and I have not gone through a body scanner yet. Though they have them airports, they often aren't using them or use them for only a small percentage of people.

I was binding, packing, and even passing as a male and flying on F ID without any problem. I *did* have a carry letter from my therapist, just in case someone asked (no one did).

I also knew that if I did have to go through a body scanner, I could either opt out and ask for pat down OR let them scan me, knowing that they'd prob ask me for a pat down anyway (due to the packer). It never happened, though.

In the months prior, though, I was dressing more andro to pass as female, didn't have facial hair (like I did more recently), and I would keep my packer in my carryon. I would go through security not packing and then just put it back in the first bathroom after security.

It's really about how you feel most comfortable. They are far more likely to flag you for being twitchy and weird than anything else.

[Squirrel698]

I am FTM and recently traveled from Richmond, VA, to Orlando, Florida, and passed through one of these full body scanners on my way.  They stopped me and scanned me a second time, then pulled me into a little room where they proceeded to pat me down--all the way up my legs, across my packer twice, across my chest--it was awful.  They almost didn't let me fly, even though I told them I was trans.  The security guard told me as I was leaving, "You should check "that" (looking at my crotch) in your luggage on the way back so you don't have this problem."  Excuse me?  I need to check my penis?  Do you tell this to all the boys?

Altogether one of the most humiliating experiences of my life.

I'm really sorry to hear about that experience.  It is atrocious how badly these TSA people are trained.  Well the whole thing is actually.  I know it's for our safety but at this point I really don't think flying is the biggest threat. 

I really don't fly that often.  I think I've been in a plane 10 times in my entire life.  I prefer a train actually.  If I do have to fly I'll be wearing my packer as I'm never without it.  Hopefully my experience will then mimic Sean's and Jay's and no will even care. 

[Sharky]

I am FTM and recently traveled from Richmond, VA, to Orlando, Florida, and passed through one of these full body scanners on my way.  They stopped me and scanned me a second time, then pulled me into a little room where they proceeded to pat me down--all the way up my legs, across my packer twice, across my chest--it was awful.  They almost didn't let me fly, even though I told them I was trans.  The security guard told me as I was leaving, "You should check "that" (looking at my crotch) in your luggage on the way back so you don't have this problem."  Excuse me?  I need to check my penis?  Do you tell this to all the boys?

Altogether one of the most humiliating experiences of my life.

They are scanning you to be sure you don't have anything more than your flesh under your clothes. Anything that isn't your flesh will clearly show up. If anything shows up, you get a more thorough search. You should check it with your luggage if you don't want to repeat this experience. There isn't a need to tell all the guys since the average Joe's scan wont come up with a foreign object.

[xAndrewx]

Sorry to thread still but can someone tell me if the binders cause questions. Someone said some binder material causes them to have to get re-scanned. I'll be leaving my packer in my carry on bag and putting it on when I get to wherever I'm going because as much as I don't think I should have to take it off and I'm not a fan of the scanners but the pat-down makes me fear that I will get flashbacks of a bad event so I'd rather walk through a scanner without my junk.

[ducknark]

Well, I can only speak from my one experience, but the binder wasn't what caused the gestapo to pull me aside, it was my packer.  They can see your top half THROUGH the binder though, so you're effectively outing yourself to the dude behind the counter.  If that doesn't give you the creeps, then I think you'll be fine.

The guy in the video linked above said something about his binder needing to be run through the bomb machine.  He was wearing a post-surgical binder, if I understand what he's saying in the clip correctly.  I wore a standard double front compression shirt from underworks and it wasn't a problem.

edit: depending on what type of packer you have, you can't carry it on due to its liquidity.  You have to check it if it's of the mister softy type (squishy kind).  If you have a harder silicone kind (similar texture to a strap-on for play), you should be fine to check it because it "reads" as a solid rather than a liquid.

[Robert F.]

I'm flying to Hawaii this fall. I was planning on wearing my binder and putting my STP in my carry on, and carrying a therapist's letter if anyone wants to know why there's a dick in my backpack 

Honestly, at first I was terrified of outing myself to any TSA agent. Then it occurred to me that I will probably never see them nor anyone close to me in the security line again. While being outed would/will be embarrassing, I'll just be glad that anyone read me as male to begin with. Then again, I tend to not really be affected by what other people think of me. Probably due to all the times in elementary and middle school when people would try to figure out if I was a guy or girl while whispering behind my back =/

Anyone know if these STPs get through security? http://www.toolshedtoys.com/details.php?prodId=1145&category=&secondary=124&keywords=