I pose this question because after watching the season final of Nip/Tuck, I realize that it must be very difficult for somoeone who is transgendered to get through airport security, or any other security where you’d have to show ID.
For those of you who don’t watch, the episode featured a transgender support group - the scene was short, but I remember one woman saying that getting through airport security after surgery made her finally feel like she was a real person. (I hope I’m using the term transgendered correctly - meaning someone who was born with wrong set of genitals for the physical sex they really were, and has since gone through surgery to change both primary and secondary sexual characteristics to the correct sex for them?). I get confused on the correct terms sometimes.
Anyhow, a woman on the show walked right through security, no prob, but this was TV-land, not real life where they check your ID every five feet. I do imagine that a security guard would have something to say if your license said “Freddy” and had a male picture on it, but you look more like Francine.
I’m just curious how that would work. I know that people have their names legally changed all the time, but isn’t it more fuzzy when it comes to sex? Wouldn’t you still be listed as whatever sex you were born with, should somebody look up your SS number?
My understanding from firsthand testimony is that sometimes it’s much more difficult to get the airline to change the name on your frequent flier account. However, TS people can end up being harassed somewhat by security. Of course, non-TS people can as well; I’m unaware of any real statistics which could prove more or less harassment one way or the other.
If you are TS and have a new drivers license and/or photo ID, and the name on the ID matches the name on the ticket, really there’s usually no issue in practice. The security people typically don’t care past that. It is more difficult to get your passport name changed, so international travel requires some extra work. However, I personally know a TS person who appears/dresses female (and really does pass, too), and uses their male photo passport with male name, and has no trouble whatsoever traveling back and forth out of the US, so YMMV. Sometimes the passport officer does a double-take, shrugs, and stamps it. Of course, I can also see other people being taken aside to the grey door with no handles for further “questioning”, so it could be risky to travel on a passport that doesn’t match the name you are using.
Now, when search time comes (the degrading “pat down”), you may have trouble if the guard does not believe/accept you are your new sex, or they may be confused about which sex of person to pat you down. My understanding is that they tend to pick the same sex of screener as you are presenting, but in the case of ambiguous appearance and name…you may have to tell them what sex you are.
Just an irrelevant side to the harresment thing. I always get flagged for the “full cavity search”, I do a lot of travel in the US, but I’m not a citizen and I often have one way tickets booked at the last minute. I guess if the gender on your ID has changed recently, that also acts as a flag for the security guys.
Since this is GQ, I won’t express opinions as to the efficacy of this parctice.
I’ve flown quite a lot in the past four years, and I’ve never had a problem despite having had discordant identification for most of that time. However, I’ve always had an ID that listed my current name on it, just not the current gender.
I got flagged for a “random” search in Reno once, but I think that’s because my license was expired by two days, more than because my license gender didn’t match my apparent gender. The most reaction I’ve gotten tother than that have been occasional eyebrow flashes from security screeners, presumably when they spotted the “M” on the license. My license now reads “F” (had it changed a few months back), so that’s no longer an issue.
It’s probably harder if your identification (and therefore ticket) is in a male name, but you’re traveling as female (or vice versa). I’ve never tried to do that. It can also be harder if you’re travelling internationally, although a friend of mine traveled to England a few weeks back without incident.
The Nip/Tuck episode made getting past security without trouble seem like a big deal, but again, this was TV-land. Made me think that it would be a lot more difficult for a TG person to get on a flight without hassle, and I’m glad to see that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Ever been thrown off a plane for being transgendered? I have.
Saturday 9th December was United Airlines own deadline according to their Customer Care guidelines to respond to my complaint about the treatment I received from them because I was transgendered. By kind permission of Transgender Forum you can read Ronnie Rho’s article on TransSister now here. A more detailed version of what happened is here.
It is now December 19th and I have received my first response from United as a result of having sent it again to denise.harvill@ual.com (Denise Harvill, Director of Customer Relations). The response is reproduced at the foot of my United page.
I am still deciding on a Chicago based attorney who will be able to help me take action against United, not just for my benefit, but to ensure that the same thing doesn’t happen to other transgendered people. If you are able to offer any help in this area, please email me at sarah@trans.sister.org. I expect to be flying back to the States for the legal proceedings and I shall certainly select a transgender friendly airline instead.
Until this matter is resolved and United Airlines ensures that it doesn’t discriminate against transgendered customers I would strongly suggest that anyone making travel arrangements finds a different carrier. It is interesting to note that while United maintains a friendly public face towards Gay and Lesbian travellers, they have yet to act in accordance with their own advertising slogan “Intolerance Just Doesn’t Fly” as far as transgendered travellers are concerned. They are correct that intolerance doesn’t fly - I was called off the plane I had already boarded and was not permitted to fly - intolerance prevented takeoff.
16th January 2001 - Update
I have now received a written reply from United which was given without even having contacted the staff responsible in Omaha. This letter will be in the hands of my attorney by the end of the week. I would like to thank all those who have written to United and offered me help and support. I have been particularly busy recently but will respond to everyone by the end of the week, and I shall be putting the emails here for all to view. There is also a new copy of Transgender Forum’s article about my experiences with United which is available to all here.
I followed that case at the time, and it’s one reason I don’t fly United. Note that it was entirely the airline that caused the problem - in fact, the airline went out of their way to create a problem where none actually existed. She had a valid UK passport, was a UK citizen, traveling home to the UK, and was allowed to board a later plane after being forced to freaking change clothes.
Imagine that - “We know this is you, we know this is your passport, but we can’t let you on the plane until you change clothes.” That’s not security, that’s overt harassment for the sake of harassment. Shame that IRL it’s almost impossible to punish people for pulling stunts like that. Given how incredibly stupid and almost openly contemptuous of passengers many airline personnel I encounter seem to be, though, I really must say I’ve seen plenty of non-TS persons treated worse for less.
That’s pretty sick. I definitely agree that it’s harrassment for the sake of harrassment. If they know the passport is her, and it’s legitimate, that’s where they problem should have ended. Or rather, because of that there never should have been a problem. It sounds as if someone just had a problem with a transgendered person, and decided to force them to dress the way they thought she should be dressed.
As far as I can tell, Sarah West’s experience is the isolated exception, rather than the rule. I’m moderately well-connected to transgender activist groups, and I haven’t heard of any other case of someone having problems with being denied access to air travel on the grounds that Ms. West reported.