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
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
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 (http://www.youtube.com/user/DominoAyeJae#p/u/62/xwRCN9xVgwQ)
At about 3:20 he talks about the x-ray and his packer.
Quote from: No-Name on January 22, 2010, 10:37:41 AM
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 (http://www.youtube.com/user/DominoAyeJae#p/u/62/xwRCN9xVgwQ)
lol I knew you were going to link him.
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
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.
Quote from: sneakersjay on January 22, 2010, 10:49:15 AM
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 ?
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.
Quote from: lj72000 on January 22, 2010, 12:37:14 PM
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
Quote from: lj72000 on January 22, 2010, 12:37:14 PM
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.
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...
Quote from: JoshB on January 23, 2010, 03:57:40 AM
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.
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.
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 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.
Quote from: ducknark on February 03, 2011, 09:12:43 AM
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.
Quote from: ducknark on February 03, 2011, 09:12:43 AM
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.
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.
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.
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 :laugh:
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= (http://www.toolshedtoys.com/details.php?prodId=1145&category=&secondary=124&keywords=)
I'm just grateful we don't have anything like that here! I've done some research on this whole 'TSA' thing, and it just keeps setting off my bull->-bleeped-<- detector. You guys are told it's for your own safety right? And because of that they perform searches that would be illegal if done by anyone outside of the government, and take away your basic civil rights.
When from what I've read, they don't actually increase aiport security at all. Anyone who seriously wanted to smuggle a weapon or drugs onto a plain isn't going to just keep it in their pocket. The scans can only detect what's above the surface of your skin, so anything could still be hidden in a persons 'cavities' and pass inspection. The same results can be achieved by people passing through the basic metal detector, and being bomb checked, without the invasive procedur and loss of civil rights.
All I can say is, as long as these money making schemes are in place, I won't be going anywhere near an American airport with a ten foot bargepole. I'd rather keep my dignity and mental health, thank you very much >:(
take away your basic civil rights.
There is no civil right to take an airplane ride.
I'm going to Mexico for the second time on Sunday and have repeatedly stressed out about this whole thing. I think I will go with binding & not packing. Going to see my gf, so I'll need, um, tools for all occasions so to speak. So, trouble with that is, I'll put all my dicks, etc., in a little gym bag which they can look in at customs. :police: Luckily, I went through this last year so I am not quite as nervous. They went right through my suitcase on a big table. Luckily I stopped the guy by shouting out a quick "PRIVADO!" just as he finished unzipping my little "tool case." He zipped it up and didn't look any further. It's thoroughly mortifying to have your junk displayed out in public, but it's not illegal or anything, so all I have to do is steel myself for the embarrassment and laugh it off like I do everything else. Man up, Andy! :police:
Can't you also opt for a pat down.... Sure its a more invasive pat down than the old ones, but its not like they're going to rip your packer off. If you have a packer securely situated on yourself I reckon that that is the safest route.
OK, so I am in Mexico now! Traveling down was pretty uneventful--I pretty much passed all the way down (4 airports) and am happy to report I got sir'd all the time. The two worst things so far were, when I arrived in Mexico, they have this thing at the customs where you hit this button and if you get a green light, you can go on through without them looking at your luggage, and if you get a red light, they go through all your stuff. Well, unfortunately I got the red light, and they went through all my bags. It was that same thing that happened to me last year where they open it all up on a big table. When they got to my "tool box," I'm just like, staring at the ceiling, whistling, "la la la," you know. :o I think they were more embarrassed than I was because they zipped it all up pretty quick! The other thing that happened was, we went to these hot mineral pools-type of thing down here, and I was wearing my binder under a tank top with mens trunks. I went to get in one of the hot bath things, and the guy starts to yell at me in Spanish, you can't wear regular clothes in this pool, guys need to take of their shirts. So, I just sat on the edge while my gf went in. It was the only time when passing was NOT to my advantage!
(NOTE TO SELF: Got to save money for top surgery SOON!)