Rod Dreher

The 7,000 Year Old World

Traveling Trannie Thanksgiving

By Rod Dreher • November 21, 2012, 4:28 PM

A reader in Texas sent in this potentially useful holiday information:

With many people traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, the National Center for Transgender Equalityhas released a new list of tips to help those who are transgender or gender non-conforming avoid mistreatment or humiliation while processing through airport security. Here is a reminder of the rights that all passengers have while being screened by the TSA:

You can opt out of body scanning machines at any time. However, travelers who opt-out of body scanning machines will be required to undergo a thorough pat-down.

Transgender travelers have a right to a pat-down by an agent of the same gender as the traveler. This is based on your gender presentation. The gender on your identification documents and boarding passes should not matter for pat-downs.

The things I learn from you people.

Posted in Whatever!. Tagged Thanksgiving, transgender, travel.

23 Responses to Traveling Trannie Thanksgiving

Siarlys Jenkins says:

November 21, 2012 at 4:34 pm

So a transgender “woman in a man’s body” can insist on a female agent to pat them down? Does the female agent have the right to refuse to pat down what is obviously a man’s body? If she does do the pat down, and gets off on doing so, is she immune from charges of sexual harassment?

Ditto in reverse of course.

Finally… does anyone know if the TransGCenter is promulgating genuine government regulations, or their own wish list?
Fran Macadam says:

November 21, 2012 at 5:33 pm

Probably the only modicum left for freedom.
Erin B. says:

November 21, 2012 at 6:03 pm

Good job working against the view that conservatives are old, bigoted, out-of-touch straight white dudes. I mean, Whatever!
Andrea says:

November 21, 2012 at 6:19 pm

As far as I know, the rights cited by the organization are legitimate.

In other news, a judge in Massachusetts has ordered that the state pay for a sex change operation for a murderer serving a sentence for killing his wife back in 1990. The judge cited this as a legitimate medical need for the suicidal 63-year-old prisoner, Michelle Kosilek, who was born a man but now lives as a woman in a men’s prison. Kosilek would be transferred to a women’s prison if the surgery is performed. Since most people who want these operations have to pay out of pocket for them, it seems pretty unfair to me that taxpayers are expected to pick up the tab for this guy.
Fred says:

November 21, 2012 at 6:45 pm

Ironic. After a wonderful post about the suffering of your Aspie son, you can dismissively scoff at the enormous suffering of people who find themselves mis-gendered. Do you seriously think these people are just making this up? That they don’t live their childhoods and adolescence in acute psychological pain and fear? That they aren’t subjected to the worst kind of bullying?

I guess only some kinds of disorders are worth sympathy. Good to know. Perhaps you could provide us with a list of the legitimate ones.
MC says:

November 21, 2012 at 6:57 pm

I have nothing against gays but this “transgender” nonsense drives me right up a wall. In the history of the world, those who point at a man dressed up as a woman and say “forget about the adam’s apple and crotch bulge, that’s a woman” will look as ridiculous as the third world natives who tried to fly by building an airplane from coconuts. Only the “coconuts” people are in charge of the most powerful empire in history.
Charles Cosimano says:

November 21, 2012 at 7:02 pm

I would say something witty and biting but my head is spinning too hard.
Naturalmom says:

November 21, 2012 at 8:16 pm

As someone who knows a couple of really nice, unassuming transgender people personally, I’m sorry to see this post. I’m not sure why it’s amusing, except in a juvenile way. Whatever you think about the legitimacy (or lack thereof) of transgender identity, advice about how to get through an airport without making a spectacle of yourself is just that. They just want to go through as anonymously as possible, just like everyone else. But hey, they’re weird and, so fair game to make fun of, right?
And save the sighs about the “predictable” reaction of “liberals.”. I’m speaking out because of my friends, not my politics. I would want someone to do the same for me if, say, homeschoolers were being mocked, so I decided to say something.
Rod Dreher says:

November 21, 2012 at 8:41 pm

Ironic. After a wonderful post about the suffering of your Aspie son, you can dismissively scoff at the enormous suffering of people who find themselves mis-gendered.

Oh, come on. I’m not “scoffing” at the “enormous suffering” of transsexuals, transvestites, and so forth. I’m bemused at the idea that we live in a society in which a dude in a dress has the right to request a patdown by a woman TSA agent because he “presents” as a woman. Maybe this makes sense, all things considered. I don’t know. But it is very unusual.
Roland de Chanson says:

November 21, 2012 at 8:59 pm

What about hermaphrodites and their “rights”? Do they have a “right” to a “pat down” by a TSA hermaphrodite? How many affirmative action hermaphrodites have been hired by TSA to protect us from terrorists? These are fundamental questions in a democratic republic such as ours. I emphasize “such as ours.”

I have written my congressman to urge introduction of a bill requiring a DNA test prior to issuance of any marriage licence. After all, we wouldn’t want some poor duped “gay” person marrying a person of the opposite sex by mistake.

Life is challenging in the People’s Republic of Gomorrah.
Fred says:

November 21, 2012 at 9:08 pm

“Hoo boy. Girl. Whatever.”

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/queering-the-girl-scouts/
Lord Karth says:

November 21, 2012 at 9:12 pm

The TSA is being ridiculous. But that is to be expected from an organization whose primary purpose is to inform American commoners that they are subjects rather than citizens.

Then again, “transsexuals” are ridiculous. They used to be given mental health treatment. Now they’re given special rights. Give unto me a break.

In any event…..offsetting penalties. Further review is declined. Second down.

Your servant,

Lord Karth
Charlie says:

November 21, 2012 at 9:16 pm

I’m bemused at the idea that we live in a society in which a dude in a dress has the right to request a patdown by a woman TSA agent because he “presents” as a woman. Maybe this makes sense, all things considered. I don’t know. But it is very unusual.

Fair enough, but I think the unusual aspect of this that has broader implications for the rest of us is that airport security is now so invasive that it has sexual overtones and has the potential to humiliate people who are self-conscious about their bodies. That’s not just true of transgendered people.

I can’t see anything wrong with the intent of the resource you linked to, which describes itself as “a new list of tips to help those who are transgender or gender non-conforming avoid mistreatment or humiliation while processing through airport security.” I think passing through airport security is inherently degrading, at least to a minor extent. And if you bump into the wrong people at the wrong time of day, it can be extremely unpleasant.

Given that the normal process of boarding a plane in this country now includes an obligation to partially disrobe and either be frisked or x-rayed, anything that makes the self-conscious feel better or more secure in the process seems fine to me. I think there are actually some tips on that list that anyone who travels might be interested to read (e.g., the rules that apply to children under 13, what TSA can and cannot ask you to do, etc.).
pinkjohn says:

November 21, 2012 at 9:40 pm

A couple of thoughts. First, the questions and bafflement of most people who do not suffer from gender dysphoria is perfectly understandable. Rod, not all transgender people are hypersensitive and many would be perfectly willing to answer your questions and would probably even accept the fact that you “just don’t get it.” For those of us lucky enough to be “right-bodied” it seems unimaginable that this isn’t the case for everyone. We are not to be blamed what we can’t understand.

Second, just because we don’t understand it doesn’t make it any less real for those experiencing it. As for the TSA rules, these are a minor public accommodation. Big deal. It is still legal in most places to discriminate against transgender people, and they experience violence at an alarmingly high level because their existence calls into question all of our “timeless truths” about gender, the most basic component of our identity short of just “being.”

Rod, if you meant to mock transgender people, your tone was pretty mild, if a bit snide. They have suffered much worse. If you meant to mock our liberal attempts to accommodate this minority, that might be fair. But I would ask if you think anyone would actually choose this path for themselves?
J_A says:

November 21, 2012 at 9:50 pm

Remind me to be bemused about the ‘enormous suffering” (sacare qotes intended) of autistic kids and their parents. I mean, this kinds “present”themselves as something something hypersensitive. I say grow a spine.

See. I am not autistic nor I know anyone that is autistic (or Asperger). It’s probably all made up if you ask me.

We can all play at humiliating the other. It’s very funnym care to join?
pj says:

November 21, 2012 at 11:50 pm

While my eyes literally roll every time I hear about the transgender issue, (what is the currently accepted PC abbreviation–LGBQXΔλμT?) I have to say that I somewhat sympathize with them on this specific issue.

I mean if it weren’t for the panic response after 9/11 and our esteemed congress deciding that the appropriate way to fight terror was the creation of the largest bureaucracy the planet earth has ever known–the Department of Harassment in the name of Security– none of us, including the trannies would be cursed with its spawn, the TSA. So I’m for anything that makes the TSA and the rest of the system look as stupid as it is in reality.
Siarlys Jenkins says:

November 22, 2012 at 12:23 am

As someone who knows a couple of really nice, unassuming transgender people personally, I’m sorry to see this post. I’m not sure why it’s amusing, except in a juvenile way.

I see a different issue. Our society is so prosperous that people think any disparity, disability, or differentness can be accommodated. People even think they have a right to it.

Not too many posts ago, it was a transgender woman in an indisputably male body claiming the “right” to use the women’s shower. This, of course impinges this indisputably male body upon the women using the shower. At that point I find it reasonable to say, we deeply sympathize, although no, we really can’t feel your pain, but NO, until you have a female body, you MAY NOT impose your male body on the women using this shower. NO.

Here we have a softer version of the same question. S/he wants a pat-down by a woman. What about the woman’s right NOT to be patting down a man? What about the woman’s “natural” feelings WHEN patting down a man?

Sorry folks, everything in the world can’t be accommodated. If you are treading on someone else’s rights, back off. Some things you might just have to suffer through. A private shower, maybe. A reserved time for your shower, maybe. An intrusive body scan in place of a pat down, sure.

No, all the women involved DO NOT have a social obligation to be understanding and accommodate the poor girl/man/whatever. No matter how real his condition, the whole darn universe does not owe her/him whatever will make him feel better.
Glaivester says:

November 22, 2012 at 1:06 am

What about hermaphrodites and their “rights”?

Technically, the term is “intersexed.” True hermaphrodites would have fully functioning reproductive systems of both sexes, instead of a single reproductive system with intermediate characteristics.
Glaivester says:

November 22, 2012 at 1:09 am

…their existence calls into question all of our “timeless truths” about gender, the most basic component of our identity short of just “being.”

I would argue that they are exceptions to an overwhelmingly accurate rule. I don’t think they really call into question our assumptions about gender as a general category.
Glaivester says:

November 22, 2012 at 1:09 pm

Rod, if you meant to mock transgender people, your tone was pretty mild, if a bit snide. They have suffered much worse. If you meant to mock our liberal attempts to accommodate this minority, that might be fair. But I would ask if you think anyone would actually choose this path for themselves?

Of course, the question is, is a “trans woman” actually a woman in a man’s body, or is s/he really just a deluded male? Is accommodating a person’s “gender presentation” the same as trying to be sensitive to someone’s an autistic person’s hypersensitivity to certain stimuli, or is it equivalent to trying to get the world to pretend that a schizophrenic’s delusions are true?
David J. White says:

November 22, 2012 at 2:59 pm

So, in my lifetime we’ve gone from spending the holidays at Granny’s, to spending them at Trannie’s. Lovely.
pinkjohn says:

November 22, 2012 at 8:14 pm

“I would argue that they are exceptions to an overwhelmingly accurate rule. I don’t think they really call into question our assumptions about gender as a general category.”

Glavester, I guess that’s true if you think the exception makes the rule. It doesn’t answer the question of how to accommodate the exceptions though.

All of these are utterly reasonable questions. Me, I guess I would give some deference to those who have the direct experience in discussing these questions.
stef says:

November 23, 2012 at 11:53 am

J_A said it so I don’t have to.