kmflinkle

Believe me, it had nothing to do with what I "wanted" (my choice would be to go back to the days of the WTMDs for everybody, and the wand to clear alarms.) It was about trying to not be singled out at an airport.

When I feel safe with my surroundings, I'm generally open and comfortable about who I am. I don't wear my trans identity on my sleeve, but I also don't go out of my way to hide it (or "pass" as we sometimes call it in our community.) I'm privileged to live in an area where I usually feel both physically and emotionally safe being myself, and blessed to have friends and colleagues who support me unconditionally, along with stability in my life.

Traveling, especially by air, is a time where I don't feel as safe with my surroundings. I meet a larger cross-section of people when traveling who may or may not tolerant of trans folk. Yes, there are bigots in my hometown just as much as anywhere else, but unlike in my normal day to day life, where if I feel physically or emotionally threatened I can sometimes do things to make the situation safer or if all else fails get in my car and leave, in an airport thousands of miles from home, or in a metal tube 35,000 feet in the air, I don't have that option.

Hence flying is one of the few instances I do try to blend in. The last thing I want is to be clocked as a trans woman (or a man) at the checkpoint, by airport or airline staff, have someone on my flight witness it and find out they're transphobic. Had a male officer performed my patdown, in addition to being extremely uncomfortable for me as a woman (and trans women are women) it would have outed me to anybody paying attention.

chollie

I don't think female TSA agents should have to come to work and stick their hands between pax legs or into pax pants and underwear.

I don't think male TSA agents should have to come to work and grope penises and dip into butt cracks.

<redacted by moderator>

eta: There is never any excuse for a pax to have to wait 15-20 minutes or longer for a 'qualified' <redacted by moderator>. I have never had to wait for a <redacted by moderator> at any US airport overseas.

Ask one of the LTSOs or STSOs or BDOs standing around to put their cellphones away, suspend their personal chitchat, put on the gloves and make themselves useful for a change. Do something to earn that fat paycheck and benefits package.

kmflinkle

I don't think female travelers should have to be pat down by male officers. I hate to use this as an example... but I have trans sisters who are virtually indistinguishable from cisgender (non-trans) women and frequently get attention (whether desired or not) from straight men - if a male officer is doing the searching there's a huge potential for abuse. In my case, people usually figure out I'm trans* fairly quickly, but that doesn't make me any less of a woman. Why shouldn't I be afforded the same respect and protection as my sisters who do pass? Not that passibility determine's a trans* person's worth, or makes us any less or more of who we are.

Additionally, not everybody who has a penis is male, not all men have a penis. Anatomy doesn't define one's gender. GRS is not something that every trans* person can or wants to obtain. Only ten states (plus the District of Columbia) require health insurers to cover certain gender affirming surgeries. Beyond the financial part of the equation - many of us don't obtain certain surgeries for any number of reasons: potential medical complications, reproductive concerns, religious beliefs, or (such as in my case) simply not wanting it.

tanja

you have my 100 % support. I am a female hetrosexual born and I am one. You are in my eyes/mind a female. So all the honor and strength to you.

kmflinkle

Thank you, we need more people like you in the world

I wasn't trying to make this a social justice or advocacy thread (FT isn't the place for that), but as a trans lesbian I feel obligated to call out transphobic or queerphobic comments when I see them. Sometimes those sentiments comes from a place of bigotry, sometimes just plain ignorance, but my hope is that I can plant a seed in either case. Judging from people in my own life, I've found that it is possible to develop a more open mind and become more accepting of diversity.

Boggie Dog

I think it boils down to anatomy. If you have male genitalia then a male you do any pat downs. Same for female genitalia and females doing the pat down.

cestmoi123

I think it boils down to the passenger's preference. The reason we generally have men screen men and women screen women is to protect the _passenger_ from contact the passenger might find inappropriate, since the contact isn't consensual for them. When the choice is between requiring somebody to out themselves as trans (exposing themselves to potential risk, and at least social discomfort), and having a female screener potentially touch a penis through a couple of layers of clothing as part of her job, the balance comes down in favor of the passenger. If that risk (which is realistically tiny) is too much for a screener to take, then the job probably isn't for them.

TWA884

We are treading awfully close to OMNI/PR territory here.

Thanks for understanding.

TWA884
Co-moderator

kmflinkle

Well said

tanja

I double that. It is the passenger who gets touched that should be comfortable. Not the screener cause they dont get touched.
It is like going to the doctor and we have to make sure the doctor feels good when they examen a patient? That does not even get close to make any kind of sence to me.

ND Sol

So if I as a male would prefer that a female touch me as opposed to a male, then that should happen? I think that many males would prefer to be screened by a female than a male.

chollie

It's a non-sexual 'patdown', so in theory a TSO really shouldn't have any more problem with it than police or medics. Keep it professional and do what has to be done.

Some TSOs have posted here that under certain conditions they are allowed to handle the opposite gender.

TWA884

Reminder:
Please move on.

Thank you

acidicsystems

Not to go off topic but can people choose the gender of the officer performing a frisk search?

The reason I ask is because with all these new 'gender decleration' policies by the US, Canada, and other European countries that do seem to become a bit ridiculous, you would think that if you're a man or woman you can choose to get inspected by someone who is the opposite sex but apparently that's not true

Boggie Dog

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening

You will receive a pat-down by an officer of the same gender.