New flight security rules may create extra baggage for Transgender passengers
”Beginning August 15, 2009, all domestic flight passengers will also be required to provide the airlines with their birth date and gender…. This potentially becomes difficult if you have transitioned but your identity documents reflect an old gender marker. In this case, you may choose to submit the gender marker consistent with your gender identity so that the ticket agent is less likely to notice an inconsistency between your submitted gender and your perceived gender expression.”
From a list of guidelines prepared by the National Center for Transgender Equality regarding the Transportation Security Administration‘s new proceedures. The gender identity issue is said to be a requirement to help prevent false positives on watch lists being maintained for security issues like terrorism. But as Washington City Paper points out, not everyone’s gender is going match what is on their ID, especially in the case of individuals who are transitioning from male to female or vice versa. (NCTE) (Washington City Paper)
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