Trans Woman Demands TSA Ignore Biological Sex

A transgender woman says she was “humiliated” after being detained and harassed by the Transportation Safety Administration Monday because she didn’t want to admit her biological sex.

Shadi Petosky, who co-founded Puny Entertainment, was in Orlando International Airport to fly to Minneapolis when she was flagged by the TSA for an “anomaly” in the groin area. Petosky live-tweeted what happened next:

I am being held by the TSA in Orlando because of an “anomaly” (my penis)

— Shadi Petosky (@shadipetosky) September 21, 2015

TSA agent Bramlet told me to get back in the machine as a man or it was going to be a problem.

— Shadi Petosky (@shadipetosky) September 21, 2015

Petosky refused to identify herself as a man, declaring, “I’m transgender. I am a woman, but I have an atrophied penis, trying to make it kind of not a big deal.”

The TSA agent then told her that her body would be patted down and asked if she wanted a man or woman to conduct the pat down. Petosky wasn’t sure.

“I am sure you have some kind of transgender policy. Do you have training in this?” Petosky told the agent, according to NBC News.

The agent replied, “I know what I’m doing.”

The end result is that she missed her flight after 40 minutes of being “humiliated and embarassed” by the TSA, as they disassembled luggage gave her two full pat-downs. Petosky was not happy.

I am through. It was about 40 minutes, 2 full body pat downs, fully disassembled luggage. I missed my flight. pic.twitter.com/wLTvP3md9W

— Shadi Petosky (@shadipetosky) September 21, 2015

The TSA at the Orlando Airport told me I couldn’t take photos but this is denigrating. I have missed my flight pic.twitter.com/PHwBLiJ0cB

— Shadi Petosky (@shadipetosky) September 21, 2015

Petosky eventually got a rebooked flight and a ticket free of charge.

The incident, of course, started a #travellingwhiletrans hashtag on Twitter:

I spent most of my 20s #travellingwhiletrans. I take for granted how few people appreciate how horrible it can be.

— Ded Darkin (@RedIsDead) September 22, 2015

I spent most of my 20s #travellingwhiletrans. I take for granted how few people appreciate how horrible it can be.

— Ded Darkin (@RedIsDead) September 22, 2015

I’ve been lucky in #travellingwhiletrans in that I have only been publicly humiliated once, by a cop in Berlin airport

— AB Silvera (@ab_silvera) September 22, 2015

The TSA defended their agents’ actions, claiming that “the evidence shows our officers followed TSA’s strict guidelines.”

The TSA’s website recommends that those who are transgender use the name and gender identification that’s on their government issued ID. While it is not clear what name and gender was provided on Petosky’s ID, it can be inferred that her ID says that she is a male, since the TSA instructed her to go through the machine as a man.

The debate over transgenderism has been heightened since former Olympian Bruce Jenner announced this year that he is transitioning to be a transgender woman. Dr. Paul McHugh, former psychiatrist-in-chief of John Hopkins University who has authored six books and 125 peer-reviewed articles, explained in a column in The Wall Street Journal that sex change is biologically impossible.

“People who undergo sex-reassignment surgery do not change from men to women or vice versa,” McHugh wrote. “Rather, they become feminized men or masculinized women. Claiming that this is civil-rights matter and encouraging surgical intervention is in reality to collaborate with and promote a mental disorder.”