Transgender Woman Says She Was Delayed by TSA for Anatomical 'Anomaly'
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/transgender-woman-says-she-was-delayed-tsa-anatomical-anomaly-n431326
NBC News/by James Eng, Jay Blackman and Erin Calabrese 09/21/2015
"A transgender woman says she was delayed by TSA workers at Orlando International Airport who thought her body parts didn't match her gender identity.
Shadi Petosky, a writer and producer, tweeted about the ordeal over her anatomical "anomaly" as it happened, saying she missed her American Airlines flight on Monday due to the incident."
Stupid, - what a fiasco! ::)
I know the woman that runs the TSA Civil Rights and Liberties & Traveliers Engagement department. She also was at our transgender support group telling us what is "suppose" to happen when the machine picks up an anomaly and their procedures were way off. If they had ran her through as male, her breasts would have then set off the machine so that was a stupid suggestion of the TSA agent. The correct procedure would have to have a female office with the back of her hand glide along the outline of the crotch without touching genitals. The only thing the trans woman could have done differently was to ask for a supervisor as soon as they asked if she was a man or a woman, but that is a no-no.
BTW, there is a complaint form online at: https://apps.tsa.dhs.gov/TSAContact/DynaForm.aspx?FormID=CRLComp (https://apps.tsa.dhs.gov/TSAContact/DynaForm.aspx?FormID=CRLComp)
Or a letter can be sent to:
US Darpartment of Homeland Security
TSA Civil Rights and Liberties & Traveliers Engagement
601 South 12th St
Arlington VA 20598
lol I have to fly tommorrow and I haven't legally changed my name yet(and all my documents have old guy pics :laugh: ) so it may be interesting. I have Global Entry/Precheck and refuse to go in a scanner regardless, but I also do have a carry letter from my doc.
Can you imagine how quickly various groups would be piling it on if she were detained because she was black or Latino? Unfortunately we have no trans rights groups with similar muscle. Our community has a long way to go before people are afraid enough of consequences to treat us as humans.
Ugh! I'm flying out of this same airport in a couple months when I have surgery with Brassard. I really hope that this fiasco means that their agents get trained on the proper procedures to handle these kinds of things in the future. It's weird though; I know a lot of trans women that have flown out of Orlando International in the past with no issues. I would say that this is just one renegade idiot agent, but there must have been multiple agents at the checkpoint when this occurred, so how does this even happen without a complete systemic breakdown?
Sydney, do you know if there's a printout with their policy to remind them how to do their job?
They don't have those machines in Europe, do they?
I've heard it goes better if you ask for a private screening. Not blaming this woman, and we should just have the same treatment as cis people without having to do anything different, but for those traveling in the future maybe it helps? To me this is all too terrifying.
Quote from: suzifrommd on September 22, 2015, 05:20:26 AM
Can you imagine how quickly various groups would be piling it on if she were detained because she was black or Latino? Unfortunately we have no trans rights groups with similar muscle. Our community has a long way to go before people are afraid enough of consequences to treat us as humans.
Lambda Legal I know for a fact is pulling for us. I have a friend that works there and encourages people to talk to them regarding trans issues. They initiate legal action including lawsuits or simply writing a stern letter from an attorney.
Quote from: BunnyBee on September 22, 2015, 06:25:54 AM
I've heard it goes better if you ask for a private screening. Not blaming this woman, and we should just have the same treatment as cis people without having to do anything different, but for those traveling in the future maybe it helps? To me this is all too terrifying.
They did tell her that, but I don't see why we have to opt for a (longer) private screening. We want to be equal to cis people. That is the goal.
Quote from: iKate on September 22, 2015, 10:05:46 AM
They did tell her that, but I don't see why we have to opt for a (longer) private screening. We want to be equal to cis people. That is the goal.
Totally agree
Quote from: iKate on September 22, 2015, 10:05:46 AM
They did tell her that, but I don't see why we have to opt for a (longer) private screening. We want to be equal to cis people. That is the goal.
Well, we "could" be just carrying a pack of explosives or drugs or something down there and saying we're transgender as a cover. But then, a non invasive private screening (just running the back of the hand over the seam of the pants) wouldn't be enough to tell the difference. And of course a flat chested cis woman with coke filled breast forms wouldn't be detected through that system... :-\
What I don't understand is why they bother to single us out. How many times have transgender people ever committed an act of terrorism? That's right... NEVER.
Oh, and how many terrorists have the TSA ever caught by doing this?
Can't we just do a quick cost/benefit analysis and abolish the TSA altogether?
Quote from: Jill F on September 22, 2015, 12:46:52 PM
What I don't understand is why they bother to single us out. How many times have transgender people ever committed an act of terrorism? That's right... NEVER.
Oh, and how many terrorists have the TSA ever caught by doing this?
Can't we just do a quick cost/benefit analysis and abolish the TSA altogether?
That's not really the point. The point is the technology of the scanner can't tell whether the "anatomical anomaly" is a real penis and therefore that she genuinely is just trans, or a disguised lump of plastic explosives made to look like one... in which case she would have been a terrorist trying to pass herself off as trans in order to smuggle plastics explosives onto the plane. Quite a good cover I would imagine... so they are going to single anyone who appears a bit different.
Now you can of course argue that trans people are common enough that they must see them every day, and of course thats correct, but I guess unless I'm missing something, the point is this woman didnt exactly help her cause, because she was offered a pat down search, and even given the choice of which gender she wanted to be searched by, and at that point personally I think any reasonable person would have just made a choice and just let them get on with their job.
I know I'm ultra long term post op and so its possibly a little different, but about 20 years ago in the height of the troubles in northern ireland I once had to submit to a full body cavity search when i was going into a high security area. Now that WAS intimate, and believe me the fact that I was then at least ten years post-op didnt make it any less embarrasing, but I let them get on with it because it was just part of the conditions of what i was doing.
Like I say there may be something I'm missing here, and if so I apologise, but to me it seems as through everyone is making this into a big deal when it seems to me that:
a.) she almost certainly made it worse by refusing to choose, and
b.) this is just part of the horrible world we live in where people do unspeakable things to try and blow up aircraft.
So if you want to be angry with someone, blame the idiots who try to blow every damn thing up every time they dont get their way. The guys doing the searching are in the end just doing their job and trying to keep you safe.
In otherwords don't shoot the messenger. Sorry, correct me if I'm wrong by all means, but thats just the way I see it.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
~Ben Franklin
Quote from: Promethea on September 22, 2015, 06:21:34 AM
Sydney, do you know if there's a printout with their policy to remind them how to do their job?
They don't have those machines in Europe, do they?
They purposely do NOT list their policy on procedure to the public because they don't want to make it easier for the terrorists.
I'm not sure if they have them in Europe.
I failed the X ray scanner as well this summer. I am post surgical but it picked up on my tummy and my back. They ask me to undo my belt and then a woman patted my tummy and then my back. The scanners knows your gender and if your body type isn't a match it will flag you. Luck for me on the way back the X ray scanner was out of order so I walked through a medal detector instead. You need to let the operator know in advanced about your differences if you want to pass the scanner without problems.
Quote from: DrummerGirl on September 22, 2015, 06:03:35 AM
Ugh! I'm flying out of this same airport in a couple months when I have surgery with Brassard. I really hope that this fiasco means that their agents get trained on the proper procedures to handle these kinds of things in the future.
I wouldn't doubt they get re-trained after this. Hopefully it sticks, because this type of situation is just not acceptable.
It has got to have something to do with the airports. I'm pre-op and I've gone through the scanner several times and haven't had any problems. That is when I don't wear jeans or a blouse with bling! :o
Quote from: Dena on September 22, 2015, 04:46:45 PM
You need to let the operator know in advanced about your differences if you want to pass the scanner without problems.
Yep. The TSA has a medical info card that you can print and fill out and show to the TSA agent when you enter the scanner. I would post a link to it but I am unsure of whether that is allowed. Just search for "tsa blue medical card" and links will come up for the card.
I had a less than memorable experience at the Burbank airport with TSA on a recent business trip because I am trans and the machine detected an "anomoly". On the next trip (flying out of LAX this time) I filled out one of those blue TSA cards and wrote TRANSGENDER on it and showed it to the agent after I had entered the scanner and before he had pushed the button. He simply said "roger that", scanned me, and when I came out the other side a female TSA agent gave me a quick pat down. I then got mysteriously flagged to have my hands swabbed for explosives - is it because I am trans? Who knows.
Even with the minor hassles of the pat down and hand swab it was a much, much better experience than before.
I read this last night. Yes it's infuriating, but it's sad that she said several times that she did not want publicity, she did not want to be out to the world and known as the woman with a penis. She declined the advocate's request to be interviewed. Sure, her tweets are public, bit can't we respect her requests for privacy?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Quote from: Promethea on September 22, 2015, 06:21:34 AM
They don't have those machines in Europe, do they?
They do have them in Europe and the UK. I have been through them several times when I was pre-op. I never declared as trans and they put me through as female. I was always tucked (had been for years) so maybe "it" never showed up.
One thing I am sure of - in the UK and parts of northern Europe, trans people are protected from discrimination and anyone giving you the sort of treatment this lady received would likely lose their job. I regularly find myself aghast at the levels of discrimination tolerated in the US. Over here, someone indulging in Kim Davis's sort of antics would have landed in hot water very, very quickly, possibly charged with a hate-crime.
Well I flew yesterday afternoon for the first time since going full time with zero problems, despite a ridiculously outdated Global Entry card I used for ID. Global Entry/precheck cuts out about 90% of the security theater hassle IME.
I never have been through the scanner and before precheck I always opted out, given the known issue with scanners that's what I would suggest(second to getting precheck)
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1070.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu494%2Feesmith79%2F8087F61D-415D-4E83-9E09-C698CFB18A0C_zps2ndiy5d0.jpg&hash=db858da1803864fe290e726e6780f07d4cd39c30)
I travel frequently and have had lots of scans and no issues, yes patted down but so are X% of people to keep the 'pat down' stats up to what is expected.
I also know we SHOULD have equal rights as any cis woman - but we don't ,as far as a body scan is concerned. So what do we do? Protest we don't have a stick of plastic explosive between our legs, or just tell the operator or guard that we are pre-op TG?
I'm not sure how many cis-women have been pulled over for having a tampon, certainly some, since drug smugglers bringing contraband in their vagina are detected. So while I am extremely sympathetic to this lady, I am also concerned that possibly the situation may have been 'contrived' in some way.
As a TV program said: The truth is out there. I'm just not sure if we always get the truth. I'm pretty damn certain that sometimes no one knows what the truth is, but opinion is more powerful.
I do recall going through a scan and my (TG) colleague was stopped, then put through again and she started to complain of harassment. The officer said, it would help us if you explained what is in your cleavage. A pair of spectacles in a protective pouch appeared - even though there where clear signs to remove your glasses and place them in a tray prior to going through the scan.
I am in no way blaming the lady in the report, and I feel for her, but sometimes we have to give and take.
I'm TG, I got over it. Security has a job to do! Help them do their job and they help and respect you!
JMO
This should never have happened it is a shame in every way.
The TSA, the media, the tweeting during the whole thing the airlines response a shame.
Even Shadi P. Might have been able to defuse the situation since the TSA was obviously unfamiliar with TG procedures I have had issues before and in this situation ask for a supervisor the TSA agent has to get one but you have to comply. Often the supervisor will know the correct way to proceed. Getting into it with the TSA agent is like kicking a pit bull in the face you get bit and more than once.
I work at the airport and have to deal with this everyday
Folks who fly don't realize they may sail through ten times with no issues then the day comes they get in line with the new screener or the one who slept through training and now they're in a dog fight they can't win.
This is my opinion but the low power X-ray booths are an invasion of everyone's right to privacy
Cindy I agree they have a job to do.....
I have only been "hassled" once by an agent that I think was just new on the job and a little flustered. I just asked for the supervisor and a few questions cleared things up quickly. Maybe I was just lucky but I have learned after many years of air travel its just always best not to get into an argument with the TSA agents. Guy, Girl or TG, you are just not going to win a public argument with a minor bureaucrat in a uniform. Best to keep your cool, know the rules and your rights. Hopefully someday all this wont even be an issue.
One thing I did learn, best just to not wear a girdle with metal stays to the airport and avoid the scrutiny all together.