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I have no comment on the situation, but it makes me sad to see people mock people who are transgender, and call them freaks. Shame on you. They are real people, with real feelings, and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
Just a point - I have never been asked whether I want to be scanned as a woman or a man. I look like a woman (I am), so they just click the female button, I guess. No formal declaration of my sex is required beforehand. Upon being informed that she had a penis, why didn't the TSA agent just ask her to walk through the scanner again, push the "male" button, and be done with it. No big deal.
I think the TSA agent escalated this situation unnecessarily, and was out of line by trying to force her to make a declaration that is not required of anyone else, thereby by making it an issue. She said she had a penis, seems from the person actually there when it happened that it was pretty obvious that she was transgendered, so just click the other button and do your job.
All this posturing and arguing about transgendered people's rights is completely beside the point.
Just a point - I have never been asked whether I want to be scanned as a woman or a man. I look like a woman (I am), so they just click the female button, I guess. No formal declaration of my sex is required beforehand. Upon being informed that she had a penis, why didn't the TSA agent just ask her to walk through the scanner again, push the "male" button, and be done with it. No big deal.
I think the TSA agent escalated this situation unnecessarily, and was out of line by trying to force her to make a declaration that is not required of anyone else, thereby by making it an issue. She said she had a penis, seems from the person actually there when it happened that it was pretty obvious that she was transgendered, so just click the other button and do your job.
All this posturing and arguing about transgendered people's rights is completely beside the point.
The TSA agent didn't make the transgendered woman declare male or female. The TSA agent made a comment that was basically saying "okay, this is how we'll take care of it" and the transgendered women objected to the easy push the male button solution. The transgendered person escalated it, not the agent.
Quote:
"I said, 'I'm transgender. That's my penis,'" Petosky recalled. "The TSA officer then said something like, 'If you are a man, then go back in the machine and we'll run you as a man.'"
Told by the agent that she needed to be run as a man or a woman, Petosky said she replied, "I'm transgender. I am a woman, but I have an atrophied penis, trying to make it kind of not a big deal."
According to Petosky, the TSA officer replied, "If you don't want to be run as a man, we'll have to search you. Are you a man or a woman?"
By the way clear, written procedures are available for transgendered individuals.
Quote:
Transgender persons should use the name and gender that appears on their government-issued ID when making flight reservations and at the security checkpoint. You may ask that carry-on bags be screened in private if a bag must be opened by a TSA officer to resolve an alarm. Screening can be conducted in a private screening area with a witness or companion. You may request private screening or to speak with a supervisor at any time during the screening process.
The TSA agent was merely trying to do their job.
I'm not looking forward to penis shaped explosives if this policy is changed.
Oh, before anyone complains it isn't fair to singled out: My husband has to be searched every time he flys commercial because he has metal in his body from Afghanistan. If it's fair to single him out, it's fair to single you out.
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Just a point - I have never been asked whether I want to be scanned as a woman or a man. I look like a woman (I am), so they just click the female button, I guess. No formal declaration of my sex is required beforehand. Upon being informed that she had a penis, why didn't the TSA agent just ask her to walk through the scanner again, push the "male" button, and be done with it. No big deal.
I think the TSA agent escalated this situation unnecessarily, and was out of line by trying to force her to make a declaration that is not required of anyone else, thereby by making it an issue. She said she had a penis, seems from the person actually there when it happened that it was pretty obvious that she was transgendered, so just click the other button and do your job.
All this posturing and arguing about transgendered people's rights is completely beside the point.
I think they know which "button" to push based on your ID. In this case, her ID says female so she was put through as female, even if she does look transgender, but the penis popped up (no pun intended ) which set off alarm bells (not sure if literally, I mean figuratively) to the machine because women aren't supposed to have bulges in their crotches. So when confronted about it, the woman chose to make the process more difficult rather than quietly say, "yes I am transgendered and still have a penis, you can run me through as male" which IMO should be the proper course of action in that situation on the person's end. People shouldn't expect the world to change for their rare personal conditions in cases like this. They should understand they are a small minority and make proper accommodations themselves.
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