--- description: Her Tweets have caused an uproar over the treatment of trans travelers title: Transgender Passenger Protests TSA's 'Denigrating' Treatment image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt935c136817012bb3/698864d8a988ca77e46b4740/tsa.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LGBT](/tag/lgbt/) ## LGBT Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Transgender Passenger Protests 'Denigrating' Treatment From TSA by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 22, 2015 9:48 PM CUT  A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) sign stands at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015\. Financing for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is set to lapse after Friday and the agency would face a partial shutdown unless Congress provides new money. More than 200,000 government employees deemed essential at DHS, including TSA officers, would still have to report to their posts, even though their pay would stop unless Congress finds a solution. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) sign stands at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015\. Financing for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is set to lapse after Friday and the agency would face a partial shutdown unless Congress provides new money. More than 200,000 government employees deemed essential at DHS, including TSA officers, would still have to report to their posts, even though their pay would stop unless Congress finds a solution. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg/Getty Images by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 22, 2015 9:48 PM CUT A transgender woman is at odds with American Airlines and the Transportation Security Administration after she says a routine security check [turned into a nightmare.](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/us/shadi-petosky-tsa-transgender.html "undefined") Shadi Petosky took to Twitter to air her grievances Monday night, saying that she was inconvenienced and humiliated after TSA agents at Orlando International Airport found an anomaly in her body scanner screening. Airport body scan machines require agents to select male or female, the New York _Times_ reports, and a 2014 [al-Jazeera report](http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/5/26/groin-anomalies-andpatdownstravelingwhiletrans.html "undefined") notes that detection of unexpected shapes can be considered potential threats, leading to additional scrutiny of the passenger. Petosky told the _Times_ that the TSA agent handling her screening did not appear to know what she meant when she informed him that she is transgender, and asked her to go through the machine again with the settings changed to male. However, she says another TSA agent told her she could not go through the machine a second time and led her to another room. In all, Petosky said she was patted down twice, delayed by 40 minutes, and missed her plane, all while suffering considerable emotional distress. > [](https://twitter.com/shadipetosky/status/646058164996173825) > [](https://twitter.com/shadipetosky/status/646064796853473280) The TSA said it reviewed video of Petosky’s treatment and that agents followed correct procedure. “After examining closed circuit TV video and other available information,” TSA spokesman Mike England in an email to the _Times_, “TSA has determined that the evidence shows our officers followed TSA’s strict guidelines.” The TSA’s guidelines for screening transgender passengers are [outlined on the agency’s website:](http://www.tsa.gov/travel/frequently-asked-questions "undefined") --- > “” --- American Airlines told the _Times_ it disagreed with Petosky account of the incident. According to the airline, Petosky was quickly given a free boarding pass for the next flight to her destination, but Petosky says she was given the runaround and was almost removed by the police. Supporters of Petosky have begun using the hashtag #TravelingWhileTrans to share their experiences and grievances on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/MaraKeisling/status/646366471715729408) > [](https://twitter.com/loganscasey/status/646379770259726336) > [](https://twitter.com/chasestrangio/status/646358692003188736) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4044914/transgender-tsa-body-scan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4044914/transgender-tsa-body-scan/"},"headline":"Transgender Passenger Protests 'Denigrating' Treatment From TSA","datePublished":"2015-09-22T21:48:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:09:41.737Z","description":"Her Tweets have caused an uproar over the treatment of trans travelers","url":"https://time.com/4044914/transgender-tsa-body-scan/","keywords":["LGBT"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt935c136817012bb3/698864d8a988ca77e46b4740/tsa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt935c136817012bb3/698864d8a988ca77e46b4740/tsa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TSA","caption":"TSA","creditText":"Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/lgbt/","name":"LGBT"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4044914/transgender-tsa-body-scan/","name":"Transgender Passenger Protests 'Denigrating' Treatment From TSA"}}]}] ```