TSA Encounter

[IleneD]

I had a disturbing encounter last week.

I was flying back to Colorado after visiting the east coast, entering the air travel system via a smaller regional airport. I very much wanted to Fly Pretty, and have done so in the past with no problems or security issues. I was traveling with The Wife, but I wore a light bra-lette and a matching camisole under my Guy Sweater.

There's hardly any metal in it at all; small clasps. So it must have been the shape of it ON my body in the microwave imaging device that was the trigger. The machine operator told another TSA agent as I exited to check my back. I got a front and back pat down.

I'm standing with my hands over my head, facing the agent as he felt up and down my flanks. Then he stopped..... with his hands on my breasts, literally cupping my breasts in each hand. He looks at me without a word, and I looked him in the eye and said, "Yes, I'm wearing a bra."

I walked away without further comment or making a scene. I didn't lodge a complaint. I've certainly experienced worse treatment from TSA (in drab). Yet, I was still flabbergasted at the impolite "touching". They would never do that to a GG would they?

Have a good Christmas. If I get over my cold (acquired during travel, of course), I still have a bit of shopping to do and I wish to do it as Ilene. Peace.

[Rowan Ailbhe]

yeah....been there...every time I have flown in a kilt....every....single.....time.

I detest the TSA on a molecular level.

[Jennaristow]

Sounds like to me you where traveling in guy mode with the female attire hidden underneath.
If that's the case, TSA will treat you as a man as that is your outward presentation.
I think people are too quick to blame TSA or other organizations sometimes.
If you where fully dressed, and presenting as a female. I would agree with you.

[Robertacd]

Yep I have to agree with Jenn.

If you were presenting as female they would have made allowances for things like bra clasps, underwires, metal boning, garter hooks, and etc. just like they would for a GG.

I bet your wife was wearing a bra and she didn'd get a pat down because of it.

[Pat]

In the scanner, they have to ID you as male or female based on your appearance. That will certainly trigger an "anomaly" if you're wearing a bra. As you exit the scanner you can tell the officer you're transgender and ask for a female to do the pat-down if that would make you more comfortable. They should comply without a murmur (they've been trained on this.) If there's any back-chat, ask for a supervisor. However, they *do* have to pat you down -- they have no option when an anomaly has been detected.

If you fly often, consider joining the TSA Pre-check program. In every airport I've been to, that lets you bypass the scanner and just walk through a simple metal detector, which won't react to a bra.

[Leslie Langford]

I'm with the others here, Ilene.

I agree that this intrusion into your personal space might have been upsetting momentarily, but look at it from the TSA agent's perspective. It is not a common event for a man to be wearing a bra, and for all the TSA agent knew, you might have been wearing some variation of an explosives-carrying vest of the type often favored by terrorists. I would focus more on the fact that he let you go without any further comment once you confirmed that you were wearing a bra.

Consider yourself lucky here. If the TSA agent had really wanted to be an a**hole about the whole thing, he could just as easily have sent you for a full body cavity search as a follow up procedure. .

IMHO, what counts for most in this awkward encounter is what "The Wife's" reaction to this "patting" incident was. Mortification, disgust, "serves you right; I told you so", or some variation thereof?

[michelleddg]

What Leslie said. Hugs, Michelle

[DIANEF]

Sorry Ilene but having worked at an airport (and my son still does) if a TSA finds anything unusual he-she has to investigate. The fact that you are an utterly respectable member of society counts for little when the potential threat of nefarious activity, however small, cannot be overlooked. (I didn't work on security in any way, but did liaise closely with those who did)

[char GG]

Yes, GG's get the same scrutiny and yes, if something was odd with a GG, there would be "impolite touching". Old ladies in wheel chairs, small children with sippy cups, men and women with metal rods in their legs, everyone gets examined, sometimes on a personal level. At least they didn't take you in the back room. No one should feel entitled going through TSA. I am glad they are strict with their assessments and I always thank TSA for what they do. I appreciate that they try to keep thousands of people a day going their their lines safe.

[Meghan4now]

Hmm, did he seem to "enjoy" copping a feel?

If not then it's not so much of a #metoo moment.

[CynthiaD]

I've been patted down several times wearing a bra under male clothing. Never a comment in either direction.

[Gillian Gigs]

Oh the joy of getting groped for the sake of national security. Other than complaining to a superior, there is not much that can be done. I guess you now know what it feels like to be a woman and get groped by some pervert! Maintain your dignity and move on, I know someone who was strip searched and detained for 3 hours, there only reason for stopping them was they were young,and a frequent flyer between Canada and Los Angeles.

[Anne K]

I go through the handicap line and get the complete pat down. They are just doing their job. In your case, his technique is interesting. Next time, ask him what size he thinks you are. Don't forget to smile!

[Teresa]

Ilene,
I can understand the body search, what would you have done in his shoes, he didn't have a choice, the bra on a guy could have been something more sinister, we all know it doesn't take much to knock a hole in a plane . I suppose the choice is travel in drab or travel dressed but don't mix it , to many underdressing makes very little sense , if you're a man dress as one , if you're a woman or a TS dress as one .

[Donna St. Marten]

Don't understand why you are so upset. From what you said, it sounds like the TSA agent behaved in a professional manner.

[Kayliedaskope]

You may have just very quietly mentioned BEFORE he started his patdown that you were wearing a bra, too. As uncomfortable as it may have been for you, these people ARE doing their jobs to make sure that you, your wife, and everyone else on the plane is safe. (Just for the record, my SO is one of those people with metal in her hips - this happens on a fairly regular basis despite her medical card.)

Good job on owning it, though.

[Stephanie47]

Really, what do you expect from a person charged with airport security when he encounters a person presenting as a male and detects metal where he would not expect it or perhaps in the shape expected. No, he probably would not have given a woman a more thorough inspection because he would have called for a female TSA agent to do the inspection. And, it would have been a routine metal image for a woman. Personally, I would not have expected less from the TSA agent.

[Rowan Ailbhe]

Dara Hoffman Fox has a video on youtube about her TSA encounter....it is worth a listen

[Genifer Teal]

I remember when I was getting a pat down by this women she was a little bit concerned about two areas, you think? Anyway she turns to her Superior and says should we get someone else and raise this to a higher level? so he looks at her and says, we could do that but what do you reasonably think is going on here? and with that she waved me on I thought that was a great answer.

[IleneD]

Oh I understand the consensus of the forum; that TSA was just doing their job. It never occurred to me that a soft bra would show up on imaging, but ..... what the heck.

The strangest part of the experience was standing with my hands over my head in a surrender position; the TSA cupping my "boobs" with both hands, and us staring eye to eye. In public.
I don't often find myself there.

[Jodie_Lynn]

And when the TSA agent detected an anomaly with his hands and looked in your eyes, his first thought wasn't "Oh, he's a crossdresser".

It was probably more along the lines of "Ohh shyte......." thinking he had a situation on hand. Absolutely NO pun intended. And I can tell you from personal experience, when you are doing a pat down and find something irregular, your heartrate tends to climb very quickly, and you wonder if you remembered to tell your wife you loved her before you went to work.

[Aunt Kelly]

I detest the Theatrical Security Administration, because it truly is little more than theater (given their track record of detecting threats), but this does sound like a win for them. In general, anomalies are what the agents are trained to look for and their technology is tuned to detect. A male wearing a bra is certainly anomalous. Their system caught it, the agent followed procedure and stopped to observe your reaction at the point his pat down confirmed that something was off. It seems to me that your response, Ilene, was about the best one you could have made at that point.

I am still fuming from some genuine TSA harassment which I experienced a few weeks ago. They went through my checked luggage. Nothing wrong with that. We all get it once in a while. The contents of my bag made it obvious that they belonged to a TG person (boy and girl clothes, forms, wig, etc.). When they went through my cosmetics bag, they opened several things and then threw them back in without closing them. Given that one of those items was a container of Bare Minerals, the bag, brushes, and several other items were ruined. This is exactly the type of behavior one can expect from low wage workers given a position of responsibility that exceeds their often meager grasp of common social mores. You know, thugs.

[alwayshave]

While I don't fly pretty, I always fly pre-check so that I just go through the magnetometer and don't get scanned or have to take my shoes off.

[Robertacd]

What airports let pre-checks go through without scanning?

We flew to Las Vegas last year and were pre-checked both ways.

All that got us was a much shorter security line to wait in, but we still had take off our shoes and go through the scanner just like everyone else at both airports.

[Krisi]

.......... This is exactly the type of behavior one can expect from low wage workers given a position of responsibility that exceeds their often meager grasp of common social mores. You know, thugs.

That's a bit harsh, don't you think?

These people have a job to do and they have been trained to do it. It's unfortunate, but there are people in this world willing to die in order to kill others who don't believe as they do. Or just to make a point.

Would you want to be the TSA agent who was lax and let the person through who blew up a plane and killed 200 people?

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What airports let pre-checks go through without scanning?

We flew to Las Vegas last year and were pre-checked both ways.

All that got us was a much shorter security line to wait in, but we still had take off our shoes to go through the scanner just like everyone else at both airports.

I don't fly often but for some reason, the last time my wife and I flew we were "pre screened" and didn't have to take off our shoes. We did go through a scanner and so did our carry on luggage.