A transgender woman was pressured into showing Transportation Security Administration officers her genitals in order to board her plane, according to a new report.
She says that in September 2017, under pressure from TSA officers in Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, she had to expose herself in order to clear security and catch her flight.
Olivia entered a full-body scanner during the security process, but when she moved through to the other side she was met by a female officer who told her that the scanner had detected something and she required a pat-down — with the scanner’s display specifically highlighting her groin.
She told ProPublica that she had experienced additional security before as a trans woman, but a manual search usually sufficed.
On this occasion, she was instead taken to a private room, with the officer proceeding to give Olivia another pat-down, paying particular attention to her legs and groin.
“I told her: ‘If the issue is what you are feeling, let me tell you what this is. It is my penis,’” Olivia said.
She says that an additional two more female officers and a female supervisor then entered the room, with the supervisor telling her that she would need another pat-down, but this time by a male officer.
That contradicts policy for transgender travelers, who must be patted down by officers that match their gender, based on the traveler’s gender presentation.
Olivia said that she refused to be searched by a male officer, and was told that if she refused consent, she would denied permission to clear security and board her plane and would be removed from the airport.
She started to cry and pleaded with the officers, “Can I just show you?”
TSA officers are not allowed to let passengers remove their underwear in front of them, but according to Olivia none of the officers present objected to her request, so she removed her clothes and exposed her genitals. They then allowed her to clear security and board her flight.
As part of ProPublica’s investigation, it found that, despite TSA’s commitment to treating all passengers fairly, the agency was struggling to “ensure the fair treatment of transgender and gender nonconforming people.”
By reviewing complaints filed with the TSA, ProPublica found that, between January 2016 and April 2019, 5% came from transgender travelers — this despite trans people comprising less than 1% of the population, according to estimates.
TSA press secretary Jenny Burke said that the agency doesn’t conduct strip searches, but does require passengers to “adjust clothing” during pat-downs if required.
Burke told ProPublica that TSA screening is done “without regard to a person’s race, color, sex, gender identity, national origin, religion or disability.”
A transgender woman has filed a lawsuit against hotel giant Hilton, alleging that she was assaulted by a security guard at the Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre while she was a registered guest.
According to the complaint, filed in the 192nd Civil District Court in Dallas County, Kimberly Barnett, an Afro-Latina transgender woman from Nebraska, was staying at the hotel in late June while attending Dallas Pride Weekend and other LGBTQ events.
Barnett returned to the Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre around 3:45 a.m. on June 24 and attempted to "valet her vehicle," according to the lawsuit.
A New York City subway rider was slashed in the face earlier this month by an unidentified assailant who took offense to him kissing his transgender partner. The attack occurred around 7:50 p.m. on January 10 aboard a southbound No. 6 train as it traveled through Manhattan.
According to police, the 28-year-old victim was kissing his partner when the suspect began shouting anti-gay slurs. The verbal abuse quickly escalated into a physical confrontation. During the argument, the suspect struck the victim with a sharp object, causing a deep laceration on the right side of his face, according to New York CW affiliate WPIX.
In late November, the University of Oklahoma placed Mel Curth on administrative leave after the transgender graduate teaching assistant gave a student a zero on an essay about gender roles.
The essay cited the Bible to defend traditional gender roles and described transgender people as "demonic." Curth and the course's instructor, Megan Waldron, said the paper failed to meet basic academic standards due to a lack of empirical evidence. Both noted that the paper cited no scholarly sources and failed to offer an evidence-based critique of the assigned article, which argued that children who do not conform to rigid gender stereotypes are more likely to face bullying and negative mental health outcomes.
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