TSA Experiences

Michelle Miller · Post by **Michelle Miller** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 11:55 am

In light of all the recent hullabaloo about folks getting touched inappropriately, and in some cases, darn near felt up by the TSA, I'm considering a vacation, and hoping I get lucky, seeing as how I've been on a bit of a dry spell recently.

Ralitsa · Post by **Ralitsa** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 4:01 pm

hoping I get lucky, seeing as how I've been on a bit of a dry spell recently

That's good

Kimberly Kael · Post by **Kimberly Kael** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 6:47 pm

I promised I would follow up for my next trip out of the country, because that meant traveling en femme with a passport that makes it pretty darned clear I'm transgender: it had my female name and a male gender marker, though I hope to change the latter this year under the new, less restrictive rules.

Per the TSAs requirements my wife booked the flight with my name and gender matching my passport, although she said the agent booking the tickets seemed quite perplexed. On arriving at the airport we checked in with our ID. No questions, no hassle, just a friendly smile and rapid service combined with a wish for a pleasant trip. Security? Not even a second glance, just a scan of the paperwork and we were on our way through the old-style metal detectors. Immigration in Mexico? I checked the "male" box since that matches my passport, and that didn't raise any eyebrows either.

Honestly, I have literally never had so little trouble traveling before in my life. I no longer fall into the suspicious long-haired musician category - I'm now safely in the transgender bucket and am not a concern to immigration, customs, or security people. It's a wonderful change of pace and indicates to me that there is some fairly effective training in place - and a whole lot of profiling. I've had people admit that to me before, that bring "randomly" selected for screening is just a code phrase for fitting into a perceived high-risk category.

It's still worth knowing your rights and following their rules to the letter, but I don't think anyone should be worried about being singled out in a major airport because they're cross-dressed. Small town airports may still be a different story but so far, so good.

Absaroka · Post by **Absaroka** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 9:42 am

Maybe profiling is working in TG folks favor. How many terrorists present as transgendered Western MTF?

Paula G · Post by **Paula G** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 7:35 am

Kimberly, so now I only have to worry about being singled out for being a musician

Ralitsa · Post by **Ralitsa** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 10:47 pm

I believe that anyone who says that profiling is not being used is flat-out lying. But I also think profiling should be used, what's the point in searching a 5-year old kids teddy bear, or an 80 -year old lady's cane?
I've also been "randomly selected" less since I've been travelling dressed, in fact never. But there is one time I was pretty glad to be "randomly selected". I was going through O'Hare and the security line was about 5 days long and I had about 5 minutes to make my plane. I was "randomly selected" and taken through a special pat-down room, where I think I was the only one. I got through in about a minute and skipped the whole line, and made my plane.

Absaroka · Post by **Absaroka** » Mon Feb 14, 2011 9:15 am

This didn't happen much with TSA, but with the local police for a long time I "fit a description" After I had kids, when I had them with me I no longer fit whatever the description was.

One time I asked the cop who stopped me what this person who's vague desription (white male in 20's or 30's casually dressed with beard) had done. He was vague but the article in the paper the next day made me glad the police found him, and if they had to ask me a few questions I didn't mind.

Here's a thought though. The 9-11 hijackers all traveled 1st class, the better to conceal their actions from most of the other passengers. Does everyone in 1st class fit the profile?

Post by **DonnaT** » Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:26 pm

There were hijackers long before 9-11, and there are one too many home grown extremists, so profiling can be a bad idea sometimes.

Absaroka · Post by **Absaroka** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 8:37 am

I went on a little trip last week. I noticed at Kennedy that a couple of people were searched.

Interestingly both people being searched were middle aged white men. Maybe they did something to fit a profile besides being male, I don't know. My daughter forgot to empty out her water bottle and had to go empty it and go again but she was not searched. All the security personel were black, both male and female, except the person doing the searching who was a middle aged white male. I suspect this has to do with having the supervisor doing the pat down. I imagine there is also a policy about the pat down being done by someone of the same gender, all the stuff we discuss here notwithstanding. I don't imagine there is a rule saying only white people can do the pat down........

All the security people were fairly pleasant, albeit in a way that left no doubt as to who was in charge.

Azurielle · Post by **Azurielle** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:28 am

Ralitsa wrote: I'm absolutely convinced that I get special treatment in many places where they know me and recongnize me as "that guy who wears a dress and leaves big tips."

Yeah, you know you've been to a bakery too often when the guy out back calls you ''hey skirt-guy'' by voice even of he can't see you. It gets even creepier when the cashier's a 17-year old who refers to you as a ''trap''.

Meh, the butter rolls are just too good to give up, though. And I swear that lad winks at me everytime he drops an extra one in my bag *shivers*.

Davita · Post by **Davita** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 9:52 pm

Back to TSA....

Didn't I just hear a girl refused to fly because somehow the TSA people saw she had a vasectomy? Not sure about the whole thing, but i think that was what the story was about.

Y'all hear anything?

Post by **DonnaT** » Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:47 pm

Very doubtful, Davita.

Vasectomies are done on men. Even then, no xray screen is going to show such a procedure had been done, unless he was wearing an ice pack at the time.

Carolynn · Post by **Carolynn** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 12:45 am

Before my surgery, I flew tucked and was not rumbled. Others have done the same. Of course, not a problem on the return trip.

From what I saw of examples of the type of scans being done, the resolution was enough to show breast forms, but not tucked nor untucked genitals if you were wearing jockey type undies or tight panties. I am not sure about the padding of something like a Veronica shaper, but enough RGs use helpers that it should be a non-event, I would think.

Now if the person was pulled aside for a body search and pat-down, then something might have come up with that. (no pun intended). However, that was done to me in 2007 a total of three times during several flight changes, and they did not feel up the crotch area where I was tucked with a pad. That was pre-new security precautions of course. No problems flying from the US to Canada last November, and none coming back either. My gender matched on the passport and the ticket, and I did not have a pat down nor was I pulled aside.

Carolynn

Absaroka · Post by **Absaroka** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 9:18 am

Davita, did you mean masectomy? Your wording also sounded like the woman refused to fly, rather than was not allowed to fly.

TSA folks probably see plenty of masectomys (assuming they show up on the scan) but if it was recent and the woman found the surgery difficult maybe she would consider that grounds to avoid a search and thus flying.

Davita · Post by **Davita** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 10:06 pm

Nope ladies; I'm sure the woman was TS. Let me do some research to figure out how dirty my ears are. See if I heard right.

Okay... Google produced nuthin, but I sorta expected that. SSSoooooo... if it's the newspapers, Google may not get to see it.

BUT, here's a new topic. See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... rline.html These girls could get to play havoc with TSA all the time.