Transgender woman detained by TSA at Orlando International Airport
HRC calls for investigation into incident after Shadi Petosky live-tweets her humiliating encounter with airport security
The Human Rights Campaign is calling upon the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to investigate an incident in which a transgender woman was detained after being flagged by security agents at Orlando International Airport.
The woman, Shadi Petosky, of Los Angeles, tweeted that she was pulled out of line at the checkpoint by TSA agents because of an “‘anomaly (my penis).” Petosky continued to live-tweet her ordeal with security agents, which was then picked up by Vox. According to Petosky, she underwent two full body pat-downs, was detained and questioned for more than 40 minutes, and had her luggage extensively searched. Airport police later asked Petosky to leave and attempted to escort her out of the airport.
At the time of the incident, Petosky tweeted the price that American Airlines was charging her after the agents forced her to miss her flight. She also insisted that her intent was not to cry poverty, tweeting: “My point of listing the prices is not to get money. It’s to show cost when the TSA detains trans bodies (Plus time, denigration).” She also tweeted: “People in the community are talking crowd funding initiatives but please don’t. Class privileges aren’t my current issue. Much love.”
After an American Airlines agent told Petosky that she should ask for a private screening the next time she is flagged by security, she tweeted: “I literally want to no lectures from American Airlines on how to travel while trans. I want the same privileges as cis people.”
In response to Petosky’s treatment, HRC’s president, Chad Griffin, sent a letter to TSA Administrator Peter Neffender asking TSA to “conduct a swift and thorough investigation of the incident, and take immediate action to ensure transgender travelers are treated equally and with full respect.”
Griffin also called for TSA to provide consistent training for dealing with transgender and gender-nonconforming travelers.
“TSA should have comprehensive guidelines that are fully transparent to the public for TSA officers interacting with transgender individuals,” Griffin said in the letter. “In addition, the agency should require training to ensure that all officers are following agency guidelines. We urge you to take all necessary steps to ensure that officers nationwide receive the necessary training they need to conduct their jobs respectfully and efficiently.”
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.