Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Has anyone gone threw airport full body scanners with a packer? All of my documents have been changed to male but the scanner will show otherwise plus show the packer. Just curious if anyone else was stopped or had issues. Thanks

Reminds me of this guy's story: http://youtu.be/xwRCN9xVgwQ (http://youtu.be/xwRCN9xVgwQ)

if i where you i would opt out then they will just grope you and feel your packer and since everything says male there will be no problems.

I have. There were no issues, although I was worried that there might be.

Thanks. Is your ID male? Did they ask you any questions?

I wouldn't risk it.
The scanner will show things  external to the body, so that will be suspicious to them. I would rather go in, get scanned and be seen by that one person viewing the monitor, as a guy with no penis, than wear a packer and get pulled aside and have to explain.

I wouldn't risk it either, don't like to draw that kinda attention to myself. I would opt out and go for the pat-down - it's not like they grope you or anything so they won't detect your packer.

Thanks guys, I guess I'll skip the scanner. I didn't know you could opt out and do the pat down.

i also have a question about airports does anyone know if the gender of the person doing the 'pat down' is based on your perceived gender or the sex it says on your passport or other id.

Quote from: anibioman on September 30, 2011, 09:19:27 PM
i also have a question about airports does anyone know if the gender of the person doing the 'pat down' is based on your perceived gender or the sex it says on your passport or other id.

You don't present ID at security - only to get into security. So the only information they have is your perceived gender. Even the person who checks your boarding pass is not the same as the person who gropes you, and doesn't pass on your name. When I flew on my old passport I still got a woman patting me down because I look female. Also if you request a private groping session and then disclose that you are trans, you can pick whatever gender you want to pat you down. Being patted down by someone of the same gender is for your comfort, not theirs.

Note: this is in North America. Definitely not universal.

I never go through the scanner. I've had enough doses of radiation from medical scanners already thank you very much.

Quote from: brandon823 on September 30, 2011, 03:07:51 PM
Thanks. Is your ID male? Did they ask you any questions?

My ID is legally male, and I was wearing a packer with no issues or questions after going through the scanner.

I'm not sure how a "pat down" would be any different if there was an issue with security, as they are rather thorough with the pat downs. Wouldn't they feel that you have something in your pants anyways and thus question and want to know what it is?

Quote from: Sarah7 on September 30, 2011, 11:04:29 PM
You don't present ID at security - only to get into security. So the only information they have is your perceived gender. Even the person who checks your boarding pass is not the same as the person who gropes you, and doesn't pass on your name.

This.

I've flown a lot recently and I pass, but when I fly out of airports that have the full body scanners, I don't wear my packer.  As someone said, the scanner is only in place to detect foreign objects on your body.  The person viewing the scanned image of you has no information about you and is in a totally separate room.  They don't know anything like your name or what you actually look like, they're just looking for foreign objects. The person who checks your boarding pass and ID is a totally separate person. 

The last time I flew, I forgot to take my wallet out of my back pocket so the scanner picked it up as something that was not part of my body.  I then had my butt groped and also had them do the thing where they check your hands for traces of explosives.  It was interesting. 

Thanks. I guess I just won't wear the packer. That's going to feel really odd though. It's part of me but I don't want any trouble at the airport. I didn't know that it was someone separate looking at the screening.