Flying while Transgender
Jul 22, 2017, 8:46 pm
#76
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https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening
You will receive a pat-down by an officer of the same gender.
You will receive a pat-down by an officer of the same gender.
Jul 22, 2017, 8:56 pm
#77
Join Date: Nov 2008
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(Insert the usual "but TSA screeners don't always follow published policy" ranting here.)
Jul 23, 2017, 9:17 am
#78
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If a TSA officer can't determine someone's gender from appearance, they ask "What gender are you?" or equivalent.
I was asked this once. I didn't give her a clear answer (not intentionally...just got thrown by the question). At that point she asked "Do you want to be patted down by a male or female officer?" I said female. She prodded my leg a bit. I was good to go.
Jul 23, 2017, 11:38 am
#79
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Their biological sex might be indeterminate but there's a good probability that their gender is male or female.
If a TSA officer can't determine someone's gender from appearance, they ask "What gender are you?" or equivalent.
I was asked this once. I didn't give her a clear answer (not intentionally...just got thrown by the question). At that point she asked "Do you want to be patted down by a male or female officer?" I said female. She prodded my leg a bit. I was good to go.
If a TSA officer can't determine someone's gender from appearance, they ask "What gender are you?" or equivalent.
I was asked this once. I didn't give her a clear answer (not intentionally...just got thrown by the question). At that point she asked "Do you want to be patted down by a male or female officer?" I said female. She prodded my leg a bit. I was good to go.
I was joking about it and figuring intersexed as a gender, thus they need to be patted down by someone else who is intersex.
Jul 23, 2017, 12:43 pm
#80
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While there is a good probability that the intersexed are mostly one gender there are a few where they are solidly in the middle. What gender is someone who has a penis and a vagina? (Naturally, not surgically.)
I was joking about it and figuring intersexed as a gender, thus they need to be patted down by someone else who is intersex.
I was joking about it and figuring intersexed as a gender, thus they need to be patted down by someone else who is intersex.
Are male screeners even trained to lift, separate, cup and squeeze? They do have to handle heterosexual males with breasts, I'm sure.
Personally, I don't think a screener should have the right to refuse to screen a pax whose gender they don't identify with. If a pre-surgery Caitlyn Jenner, with full breasts, a bra, and a penis identifies as a woman and wants to be groped by a woman, it should be her choice, including to have the grope in public. TSA assures us there is nothing remotely sexual about the grope, so to any properly trained, professional screener, it's just a living piece of baggage.
Jul 23, 2017, 1:15 pm
#81
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Should Caitlynn Jenner, pre-surgery, have her breasts handled as a woman's or a man's? Should a female screener have the right to refuse to grope someone like Caitlynn Jenner, pre-surgery?
Are male screeners even trained to lift, separate, cup and squeeze? They do have to handle heterosexual males with breasts, I'm sure.
Personally, I don't think a screener should have the right to refuse to screen a pax whose gender they don't identify with. If a pre-surgery Caitlyn Jenner, with full breasts, a bra, and a penis identifies as a woman and wants to be groped by a woman, it should be her choice, including to have the grope in public. TSA assures us there is nothing remotely sexual about the grope, so to any properly trained, professional screener, it's just a living piece of baggage.
Are male screeners even trained to lift, separate, cup and squeeze? They do have to handle heterosexual males with breasts, I'm sure.
Personally, I don't think a screener should have the right to refuse to screen a pax whose gender they don't identify with. If a pre-surgery Caitlyn Jenner, with full breasts, a bra, and a penis identifies as a woman and wants to be groped by a woman, it should be her choice, including to have the grope in public. TSA assures us there is nothing remotely sexual about the grope, so to any properly trained, professional screener, it's just a living piece of baggage.
Sep 21, 2017, 6:27 am
#82
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,526
We all know that the onerous new "pat down" procedure and checking of electronics, food and books are designed to get passengers into PreCheck and nothing more. Trans individuals seem to suffer more than others at the hands of the TSA.
My question: can individuals who are in the process of transitioning from one gender to another eligible for PreCheck or would they be denied due to conflicts with birth certificates and current gender - or any other reason TSA could come up with to deny PreCheck status.
My question: can individuals who are in the process of transitioning from one gender to another eligible for PreCheck or would they be denied due to conflicts with birth certificates and current gender - or any other reason TSA could come up with to deny PreCheck status.
Sep 21, 2017, 7:45 am
#83
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We all know that the onerous new "pat down" procedure and checking of electronics, food and books are designed to get passengers into PreCheck and nothing more. Trans individuals seem to suffer more than others at the hands of the TSA.
My question: can individuals who are in the process of transitioning from one gender to another eligible for PreCheck or would they be denied due to conflicts with birth certificates and current gender - or any other reason TSA could come up with to deny PreCheck status.
My question: can individuals who are in the process of transitioning from one gender to another eligible for PreCheck or would they be denied due to conflicts with birth certificates and current gender - or any other reason TSA could come up with to deny PreCheck status.
Looks to me that TSA may once again be focused on things that just doesn't matter. But that wouldn't be anything new for TSA, would it?
Sep 21, 2017, 7:55 am
#84
Join Date: Sep 2015
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We all know that the onerous new "pat down" procedure and checking of electronics, food and books are designed to get passengers into PreCheck and nothing more. Trans individuals seem to suffer more than others at the hands of the TSA.
My question: can individuals who are in the process of transitioning from one gender to another eligible for PreCheck or would they be denied due to conflicts with birth certificates and current gender - or any other reason TSA could come up with to deny PreCheck status.
My question: can individuals who are in the process of transitioning from one gender to another eligible for PreCheck or would they be denied due to conflicts with birth certificates and current gender - or any other reason TSA could come up with to deny PreCheck status.
My transgender status is always sitting in the background of applications, but it seldom even comes up. CBP never mentioned it for my Global Entry interview. Canadian visa officer I was interviewed by asked one question about it but really couldn't care less.
If people have personal prejudices against transgender people, they often don't manifest themselves when they meet one in the flesh and realise we're pretty normal people.
Sep 23, 2017, 10:15 am
#85
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,526
I mean, hypothetically no, but I guess people could be rejected under the catch-all of 'cannot satisfy us of low-risk status'.
My transgender status is always sitting in the background of applications, but it seldom even comes up. CBP never mentioned it for my Global Entry interview. Canadian visa officer I was interviewed by asked one question about it but really couldn't care less.
If people have personal prejudices against transgender people, they often don't manifest themselves when they meet one in the flesh and realise we're pretty normal people.
My transgender status is always sitting in the background of applications, but it seldom even comes up. CBP never mentioned it for my Global Entry interview. Canadian visa officer I was interviewed by asked one question about it but really couldn't care less.
If people have personal prejudices against transgender people, they often don't manifest themselves when they meet one in the flesh and realise we're pretty normal people.
Oct 15, 2017, 7:07 am
#86
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: YYZ (ex-LHR)
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Possible interesting development with the nude-o-scopes...
Been through LGW body scanners twice this month (so yeah, a poor sample size) and on neither occasion did I receive a little square in the groin area.
Previously, every body scanner has done this (along with numerous other squares which nicely hides it). I'm wondering if the manufacturer has performed some kind of firmware update to stop alarming on genitals irrespective of the gender the operative selects.
I'll have to see how it goes, but if this has happened, it'll be a big improvement for me. As it stands, flying with people who don't know I'm trans or travelling to non-friendly countries who use the NOS has often been too much of a risk.
Been through LGW body scanners twice this month (so yeah, a poor sample size) and on neither occasion did I receive a little square in the groin area.
Previously, every body scanner has done this (along with numerous other squares which nicely hides it). I'm wondering if the manufacturer has performed some kind of firmware update to stop alarming on genitals irrespective of the gender the operative selects.
I'll have to see how it goes, but if this has happened, it'll be a big improvement for me. As it stands, flying with people who don't know I'm trans or travelling to non-friendly countries who use the NOS has often been too much of a risk.
Oct 15, 2017, 8:11 am
#87
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Possible interesting development with the nude-o-scopes...
Been through LGW body scanners twice this month (so yeah, a poor sample size) and on neither occasion did I receive a little square in the groin area.
Previously, every body scanner has done this (along with numerous other squares which nicely hides it). I'm wondering if the manufacturer has performed some kind of firmware update to stop alarming on genitals irrespective of the gender the operative selects.
I'll have to see how it goes, but if this has happened, it'll be a big improvement for me. As it stands, flying with people who don't know I'm trans or travelling to non-friendly countries who use the NOS has often been too much of a risk.
Been through LGW body scanners twice this month (so yeah, a poor sample size) and on neither occasion did I receive a little square in the groin area.
Previously, every body scanner has done this (along with numerous other squares which nicely hides it). I'm wondering if the manufacturer has performed some kind of firmware update to stop alarming on genitals irrespective of the gender the operative selects.
I'll have to see how it goes, but if this has happened, it'll be a big improvement for me. As it stands, flying with people who don't know I'm trans or travelling to non-friendly countries who use the NOS has often been too much of a risk.
Oct 16, 2017, 7:39 am
#89
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Apr 26, 2019, 10:13 am
#90
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In The New York Times:
Opinion - Flying While Trans
***
But it’s not actually possible to “fly as you identify” as long as the Transportation Security Administration screening process relies on the idea of binary gender. As the T.S.A.’s own guidelines state, “When you enter the imaging portal, the T.S.A. agent presses a button designating a gender (male/female) based on how you present yourself” — that is, how the agent perceives you as presenting yourself. This selection triggers expectations that guide the screening process. If, for example, an agent presses the pink “female” button for someone wearing boxers, an alarm will be triggered on the scanner, because loose fabric around the crotch of a female body is considered unexpectedly gender nonconforming. A compression shirt on the chest of someone for whom an agent presses the blue “male” button can do the same. Once gender has been chosen, the machine proceeds on expectations about anatomy. A transgender passenger who passes — who is correctly read by the T.S.A. agent as the gender the person identifies as — but who has different genitalia will trigger an alarm. Intersex people may have ambiguous genitalia that trigger alarms and require invasive pat-downs every time.
***
I identify as genderqueer. Last week, I had just stepped through the scanner at Boston Logan International Airport when I heard the T.S.A. agent shout, “I think we pressed the wrong button!” He had shouted so loudly, I assumed he was talking about someone else. But then he spoke again, directly to me, avoiding my gaze. “Go through again,” he said. The long line behind me halted as I walked back into the scanner and assumed the position: arms up, legs spread. I waited, painfully aware that the others passengers were staring at me. Did they know what was happening? Did they know what the agent meant by “the button?”
***
Then I noticed the agent’s expression shift. He looked as miserable and uncomfortable as I felt. I turned around. On the screen was the outline of a person, arms up, with just one little yellow box of irregularity — the “alarm.” It was right over my crotch. I shouldn’t need to tell you that the pat-down that followed was invasive and humiliating, just as I shouldn’t have had to endure it.
But it’s not actually possible to “fly as you identify” as long as the Transportation Security Administration screening process relies on the idea of binary gender. As the T.S.A.’s own guidelines state, “When you enter the imaging portal, the T.S.A. agent presses a button designating a gender (male/female) based on how you present yourself” — that is, how the agent perceives you as presenting yourself. This selection triggers expectations that guide the screening process. If, for example, an agent presses the pink “female” button for someone wearing boxers, an alarm will be triggered on the scanner, because loose fabric around the crotch of a female body is considered unexpectedly gender nonconforming. A compression shirt on the chest of someone for whom an agent presses the blue “male” button can do the same. Once gender has been chosen, the machine proceeds on expectations about anatomy. A transgender passenger who passes — who is correctly read by the T.S.A. agent as the gender the person identifies as — but who has different genitalia will trigger an alarm. Intersex people may have ambiguous genitalia that trigger alarms and require invasive pat-downs every time.
***
I identify as genderqueer. Last week, I had just stepped through the scanner at Boston Logan International Airport when I heard the T.S.A. agent shout, “I think we pressed the wrong button!” He had shouted so loudly, I assumed he was talking about someone else. But then he spoke again, directly to me, avoiding my gaze. “Go through again,” he said. The long line behind me halted as I walked back into the scanner and assumed the position: arms up, legs spread. I waited, painfully aware that the others passengers were staring at me. Did they know what was happening? Did they know what the agent meant by “the button?”
***
Then I noticed the agent’s expression shift. He looked as miserable and uncomfortable as I felt. I turned around. On the screen was the outline of a person, arms up, with just one little yellow box of irregularity — the “alarm.” It was right over my crotch. I shouldn’t need to tell you that the pat-down that followed was invasive and humiliating, just as I shouldn’t have had to endure it.