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Holding Pattern For Trans Woman Humiliated, Detained and Delayed By The TSA
The Transportation Security Administration has been largely silent for more than 21 days following a series of embarrassing and frightening interactions between a trans woman and TSA agents at Orlando International Airport.
Shadi Petosky live-tweeted her experience, garnering her instant internet fame and sparking twitter interactions from such luminaries as Jenny Boylan, which got the attention of the TSA.
.@JennyBoylan TSA takes all potential civil rights violations very seriously. We are looking into the situation now for further information.
— TSA (@TSA) September 21, 2015
Publicly, the agency issued a terse statement clearing its agents of any wrongdoing on Monday, September 21, in how it handled the security screening of Petosky, as The Advocate reported.
However, Petosky tells The Advocate the TSA statement about its “swift and thorough investigation,” and its conclusion that its agents followed “strict guidelines” based on “evidence” from surveillance cameras and “other information” is a total lie.
She posted on Facebook last week that TSA spokesman Mike England’s claim of having investigated the incident was untrue:
“They called me three days later to start an investigation. We talked for two hours and I found out a lot. It takes 7 days to get audio/video recordings. Which are owned by the airport, not the TSA. There are many ongoing civil rights investigations within the TSA and they take 30 days minimum. They have to fly down to Orlando and talk to everyone involved.”
Our emails and calls to England and the TSA’s civil rights unit were not returned at press time.
In addition to seeking the TSA’s response to Petosky’s claims, The Advocate also asked the agency for a response to a letter sent by 32 Democratic Congressmen, asking for policies on transgender travelers be revised. And Petosky hears that some members of Congress have done even more: “Apparently Democrats have been calling TSA members into their offices.”
The letter from the congressional Democrats asks the TSA to explain what’s expected of trans folks on its website.
But as The Advocate reported more than a week ago, the TSA inexplicably deleted its webpage devoted to transgender travelers. A transgender woman posted on Twitter a link to what she says is the web archive of that detailed but now deleted original page. In its place is a brief “FAQ” section that touches on but does not fully explain what a transgender traveler might encounter at an airport.
Read The Advocate’s 7 Things To Do When #TravelingWhileTrans.
Petosky talked about her TSA horror story last month with Gay News Radio:
“I’m sure they’ll be a day in three weeks from now when I’ll be, wait, what? Everyone knows my business. This feels awful.”
She described how after repeatedly testing false positives for explosives she felt terrified that she might be arrested and placed in a holding cell for males based on her genitalia.
And as she predicted, Petosky is still reeling from the incident but is far from done fighting for her fellow trans women and men who are #travelingwhiletrans, a hashtag create by friends of Petosky that took off following her ordeal. She tells The Advocate she’s been gathering her own TSA employee testimonials about the lack of proper training for airport agents in regards to transgender travelers:
“I’m being told that there are NO written guidleines for trans passengers and only 10% of TSA agents have infrequent trans training.”
Petosky hailed The Advocate for being the first news organization to report on the discrepancy between her actual experience and what she says is an erroneous statement by the agency’s spokesman. “Did they investigate? What are ‘strict procedures?’” she asked, rheortirically.
While mostly remaining silent, the TSA did tweet recently a shout out to the National Center for Transgender Equality for “ongoing discussions.”
Thanks to @TransEquality for participating in our ongoing discussions concerning the security screening process.
— TSA (@TSA) September 23, 2015
The group responded in a tweet of its own, with a GIF serving as a reminder that trans body parts need respect, too.
.@TSA We’re always happy to discuss, but we’d be happier if your machines didn’t treat #trans bodies as ‘anomalies.’ pic.twitter.com/JRxUv2fiYQ
— Trans Equality (@TransEquality) September 24, 2015
Dawn Ennis
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