Transexual TSA screeners are no longer permitted to perform pat-downs on passengers and are instead being limited to other duties. Individual airport security screeners report receiving a memo about this change, and a TSA spokesperson confirms the shift in policy to me.
In compliance with Executive Order 14168, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, published January 20, 2025, TSA has rescinded a policy from 2021 regarding transitioning and transgender officers. Male Transportation Security Officers will conduct pat down procedures on male passengers and female Transportation Security Officers will conduct pat down procedures on female passengers.
The change is linked to a Trump administration executive order defining gender in binary terms – and a requirement that male passengers receive pat downs from male employees, while female passengers receive them from female employees.
- Some TSA screeners feel restrictions on their duty assignment based on self-identified gender is discriminatory and a violation of their basic rights.
- While others feel that passenger discomfort matters – the screener will literally be patting down their genitals and some will feel uneasy being touched up by an officer who presents as same sex but was born or previously identified as a different gender (and may be in a state of transition).
Passengers, of course, already had the option to request a different officer if uncomfortable. Not all passengers may know this or may feel comfortable asserting themselves in the face of authority in a high stress environment. And they may not even be aware of the identified gender of the officer screening them.
Requiring same sex pat downs hasn’t prevented sexually-oriented abuse scandals at TSA in the past. For instance, at Denver airport it was revealed that attractive passengers were being flagged for additional screening by same-gender employees.
Ironically, what TSA employee were doing in that case was incorrectly identifying a passenger’s gender on screening devices, so that an employee would need to ‘clear the anomaly’ in the areas of a passenger’s body that didn’t appear as the machine expected.
It is shameful that such a common sense, ethically correct action has to be mandated by the President – liberals have lost their minds.
At the rate Trump is going; it is going to be very difficult for any government agency to hire new people; unless they are white. I don’t know why anyone would want to go and work for the government at this time; maybe in 4 years; unless it someplace where you can get a check while you look for another job that is not in the government.
Pulling out the Keynes vs Hayek screenshot. Didn’t expect that for a TSA story but not opposed to it either.
@Gary Leff — The only important thing here is what you already said above: “Passengers, of course, already had the option to request a different officer if uncomfortable.” And as you suggest, more passengers should be informed of their rights.
My question, out of the roughly 58,000 TSA employees, how many ‘trans’ agents who do screenings even are there? This doesn’t seem like it was an actual issue; rather, just another ‘culture war’ distraction. Clearly, @David R. Miller already took the bait.
@1990:
Thank you! +1
Common sense. A pretty basic principle.
@Bob — That does seem to be where things are headed, sadly. This administration is practically seeking ‘reparations’ in favor of wealthy, straight, white, Christian, man who are loyal the President. Everyone else should get ready to go ‘camping’ in Guantanamo or El Salvador. There is bound to be a lot of ‘re-writing’ of history going on in these coming years. The ‘dehumanizing’ rhetoric is escalating, too. Most people here (and everywhere) simply wanted ‘peace’ and ‘affordability’ (the ‘price of eggs,’ etc.), not this nonsense (or renaming bodies of water, or ending aide, or fighting our allies, or closing agencies that protect consumers, or not prosecuting corruption, and on and on).
@David P — No. This is just hate. ‘Common sense’ is allowing the passenger the option to decide if they prefer a different agent to complete the screening.
For an elite, premium travel experience, consider Delta.
@Matt — Ok. Thanks, Mr. Bastian (we know it’s you.)
@David R. Miller is correct, this is common sense.
@Bob – why are you so dramatic? I am sure you can request anyone you want to pat you down.
@ 1990 – currently common sense does not exist. This rule makes a lot of sense just like no men in woman’s sports, use the public bathroom of your born sex or your post transitioned sex.
The definition of common sense has been thrown out the window and re-written to accommodate those with a very perverted ego.
What’s next, refusing pat downs from presumed homosexuals? How about refusing them because you don’t like their ethnicity? Or perhaps their religion? This pathetic new policy opens the door for lots more discrimination, which is exactly what was intended: red meat for racists and homophobes.
@Michael Mainello — No, such unnecessary targeting, banning, or eliminating a specific group of people is not ‘common sense.’
The Transportation Security Administration is a government employer, not a private entity, and appears to be discriminating on the basis of gender, and perhaps, sexual orientation as well, so likely a violation of the ‘equal protection’ clause of the 14th Amendment, Title IX. I’m sure the lawyers will continue argue over this one.
For your sake, since you are clearly a rabid partisan and in-favor of this ‘change,’ the 6-3 conservative Supreme Court will probably give you a win and allow such vile discrimination.
TSA shouldn’t have hired these mentally ill people who like to play dress-up in the first place.
@Christian — I share your concern.
It’s one thing for bigots and hate-mongers to speak freely in their personal capacities–for better and worse, such speech is mostly ‘protected’ from government censorship, though, there are limitations (can’t be yelling ‘fire!’ in a crowded theater), and it is not free from consequences (you may lose your job if you say stupid things). Decent people should always challenge such hate and intolerance (while they still can). Troll the trolls, as I like to say.
Though, what we are witnessing here and elsewhere recently in the US is quite different: This is the government weaponizing the ‘culture war’ propaganda and disinformation to rally His ‘base’ against vulnerable groups. Innocent, good, hard-working, talented people are likely to get hurt.
I’m confident those who disagree will cherry-pick some nominal hypocrisy as a ‘gotcha’ (it’s often disingenuous distraction tactics and logical fallacies with these ‘deplorables’).
Finally, it should be noted that as far as I can tell VFTW is a private entity, and Gary can technically ‘mute’ any of us if he wants to, so long as it is not ‘explicitly’ on the basis of our race, ethnicity, etc. So, we should be grateful that Gary continues to allow free expression in the comments, even if we passionately don’t agree with each other. Thank you, sir.
@CHRIS — I knew you’d show up. “Your boos mean nothing, I’ve seen what makes you cheer.”
@Michael Mainello “common sense” is a mythical concept invented by people who can’t rationally explain their thoughts on a topic.
@1990:
You are the Queen of taking the bait. Just look at all of your posts to this one article.
@Miguel — I’d say I’m the King, but you can call me whatever you want. As for commenting at VFTW, you can ignore or engage. You do you.
“Ever breath I take in your disapproval, fuels my self esteem”
Thank God for President Rump now I can sleep at night knowing I wont get groped by trans
Say hallelujah!
They are blowing smoke in the public’s face with their transgender obsession.
I have seen thousands of TSA screeners, but none of those standing by the metal detectors and strip search machines have ever struck me as being transgender screeners.
Mountains. Molehills. And in the meantime, they don’t even give a damn about how such marginalized people already have much higher suicide rates than the public at large. They aren’t pro-life, they aren’t pro-freedom. They are trolls out to kill liberty and neuter government institutions in the interest of the rich and twisted.
@Christian
what’s next? Thinking I should listen to a trans-sexual for health advice at the highest levels…oh wait…that happened…”Admiral Rachel Levine” asst secretary of HHS.
trans-sexual don’t understand health. Because if they did — they wouldn’t be trans!
Stop agitating…and start being self-reflective. Question everything…which the media doesn’t like. Who controls the media again? What questions do they not want you to ask?
Oh…I’d say the same thing about many gays as well…but this is thornier then trans. Same causes have deceived majority of straight as well.
more fake racism/discrimination claims again… I’m the victim!! wahhhhh
Pick-your-own-inspector doesn’t make me feel any better. I don’t want my genitals groped by anyone… male, female, trans, gay, straight, etc. I don’t see why I should be happier that a woman is doing it than a transwoman.
@1990 – No, such unnecessary targeting, banning, or eliminating a specific group of people is not ‘common sense.’
We target specific groups in the name of the law. Mentally challenged are not allowed to do many tasks. I am guessing you don’t want your uber driver to be mentally challenged.
How about someone that has a diagnosed mental disorder that is being medically treated, would you like them to be your doctor and operate on you?
“Reformed” sex offenders are still banned for holding certain jobs around children. Just to name 3.
Trans individuals, by their nature, are confused. They were born 1 sex and want to change to the opposite sex. Much is to be learned about this.
Correct – this should not be an issue but it’s the far left that opened the door for transgender. The right never wanted this issue.
Democrats always accuse Republicans of initiating culture wars when in reality it’s the left that forces their own agenda and beliefs on the people. Of course they refuse to accept that many people are unsettled in dealing with gender confusion.
@whocares — Look above your comment to where I referred to ‘cherry-picking.’ Instead of scapegoating these people, why don’t you fellas actually fix ‘inflation’ and end the ‘wars’ like your guy promised. Or, is governing hard, and demagoguing easy? We know.
@Michael Mainello — There is no logical or decent purpose to weaponize ‘the law’ against these groups. “Methinks you protest too much” because you purposely alluded to ‘sex offenders’ in this conversation–you must know that quite a few high-profile cases have involved clergy and some conservative elected officials in the US–of course, most clergy and politicians are fine people. Then, referring to a group as ‘by their nature, confused’ is also false and further proof of your animus. Anyway, back to the context of this post, on airport security screening, as Gary said, and as I have emphasized, you can request a different screener if you feel insecure.
@Ken — This demagoguing solves nothing. Most people did not and do not care about ‘this’ issue at all. It is a right-wing distraction, and clearly it was effective (yes, your team ‘won’ in 2024). That’s a shame because the economy actually matters to most of us, but we aren’t being helped there much by ‘your’ team–unless you are an oligarch, it’s gonna get worse for nearly all of us.
The whole notion of a female having to pat down a female passenger and a male a male passenger is bs. What if the female screener is a lesbian or the male screener gay? Won’t that be the same as a hetero male patting down a female or a hetro female patting down a male?
@1990 you are correct. President Trump has been in office for 3 weeks. Inflation should be shelved and egg prices back to the price they were when he left office. And he should of solved the Ukraine war by now, what a slacker. Biden got more done by noon than President Trump does all day.
So 1990 as the level headed, non-partisan purveyor of the truth I want to hand you the crown and scepter as the leader of the gas lighting brigade. Your fact based strawman arguments are impossible to beat.
@1990 Can’t wait to see you shipped off to Cuba 😀
This is red meat for conservative idiots. Who cares who does a pat down
@Mitch — You first. Save some rum and cohibas for the rest of us! I hear the beaches are lovely, too.
Not sure if this response will be published, but I decided to review the responses:
“very difficult for any government agency to hire new people; unless they are white”
“, just another ‘culture war’ distraction. Clearly, @David R. Miller already took the bait.”
“This administration is practically seeking ‘reparations’ in favor of wealthy, straight, white, Christian, man”
“No. This is just hate. ‘Common sense’ is allowing the passenger the option”
“It is a right-wing distraction, and clearly it was effective”
“This is red meat for conservative idiots.”
“is exactly what was intended: red meat for racists and homophobes.”
“This is the government weaponizing the ‘culture war’ propaganda and disinformation to rally His ‘base’ against vulnerable groups.”
The quality of liberal responses is on the aggressive side. The solution provided was clear. Requesting a different person can still occur. The decision was not threatening, every decision that liberals don’t agree with is not a threat to humanity or some group.
@Michael Mainello — Aww, thanks for the back-up. I stand by my comments, though I didn’t call anyone an ‘idiot’ (c’mon Terry, be nice to the bigots!). Michael, I still defend your ‘right’ to say ‘offensive’ things, I just disagree with you passionately, sorry, ‘aggressively.’ See, that’s actual ‘freedom of speech’–after all, we’re not ‘canceling’ anyone here. Thankfully, Gary doesn’t micro-manage us here. Anyway, thanks as well for not advocating for violence against anyone here or elsewhere. Keep it civil!
Last year in Portland Oregon, A male TSA agent pressed hard into my groin and rubbed the back of his hand up and down my penis three times. Quite unprofessional and an sexual assault. I was so shocked that I did not say anything; I believe if I yelled at him that I may have been put on the no fly list. There are perverts everywhere in government.
After you have a few prostate exams you realize that TSA pat downs don’t go very far. But, out of curiosity, can a person request a transgendered TSA agent for a pat down?
Modern GOP is taking their playbook right (pun intended) from Nazi Germany.
For Bush 2 and the Iraq war it was Reichsminister Reichsmarschall Nazi Luftwaffe commander Herman Goering “Why, of course, the people don’t want war,” Goering shrugged. “Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.”
“There is one difference,” I pointed out. “In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.”
“Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
All of Trumps supporters, especially those who have posted above, are gullible stupid racist bigoted morons who should be told “like they’re 12 years old”, like his and their maturity age, that the always lying, always projecting, serial sex offender, grifter, sociopathic, narcissistic, no respect for the law Orange Julius Cheeto is implementing the strategy penned by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller:
First they came for the Communists, And I did not speak out, Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists, And I did not speak out, Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists, And I did not speak out, Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews, And I did not speak out, Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me, And there was no one left, To speak out for me
@Chris, Facts! Mic drop.
Some men may not want another man to pat them down for fear that the agent is gay. The same sex pat down assumes that people are not gay/lesbian.
In Schenck v. United States, Justice Oliver Wendel Holmes wrote: “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic. The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent. Most people using a paraphrased version of “shouting fire” forget to include the “falsely”. At one time theater fires were relatively common. Maybe the high powered projectors and the films used were part of that.
Señor Leff can receive a pat down from a Danish female screener at CPH airport. It takes some effort but you may get lucky. If it only were Scarlett Johansson, there wouldn’t even be any eye roll reprimands about “he was such a nice boy, too bad he fell for a shiksa”.
Trumps obcession with trans and DEI makes me think he doth protest too much. It’s obvious he’s not qualifed for the job.
Common sense says that no two people are alike. Literally.
Even identical twins develop mutations in their DNA after birth.
What a load of BS to put people into buckets, and waste so much time to do so. But then that’s what they did in Northern Europe in the 1939s.
How many trans gender personnel does TSA have anyway?
What is to keep a trans gender person from self reporting as straight m/f?
When is a hand search ever pleasant?
So much else to worry about in life.
@Ralph — That was my original question, and I think the answer is still: not many, if any. One more time: this policy change is a distraction—more ‘culture war’ nonsense. Yet, those who peddle in such ‘hate’ are practically ‘giddy’ in their vilifying of others. All this instead of focusing on the very real issues in our society and the world. I’ll continue to stand up and speak out for vulnerable groups. I hope other decent people will do the same.
@jns — Be a clearer with your criticism. If your point is, it’s ok to shout ‘fire!’ in a crowded theater if there is actually a ‘fire,’ then do tell us what is the ‘fire’ in your metaphor? Either way, as I’ve said before, I will continue to defend others’ freedom of speech, even if they wish to say ‘offensive’ things (like some have above), and I will also continue to use my speech in return to disagree with them, ‘aggressively.’ To those who want to ‘get rid’ of a group of people, that’s a level of intolerance that usually ends badly for most of us and must be rejected by all of us who still have a conscience. Remember your history.
@1990
12 comments? Are you the new Tim Dunn feeling forced to comment and respond to EVERYONE with an opinion?
The current administration is a resounding success at its mission. We’re preoccupied here with something entirely meaningingless. The chaos, moral panic, and unyielding screams from the media are an exhausting diversion from cronyism and economic catastrophe.
The political news machine knows to “press the trans button” whenever they want to fuel the flames of misdirected rage.
Just as with garden variety homophobia, there is tiresome, decades-old belief that gay people want to get their hands on anyone they can find.
Naturally, the left side gets upset, thereby making the argument into a war.
I don’t want anyone from TSA frisking me. Ever. But the gender and sexual identify of that individual is immaterial. I just want to get out of there, and I don’t want anyone to scream at me.
If I worked as a transportation security officer, I would claimt be transgender. Hallelujah! I wouldn’t have to perform any frisks or “enhanced” pat downs. Perhaps there will be reaction of unintended consequences. Many all TSOs will claim to be trans. It sounds like a good plan to me. I would happily tick the “trans” box if it meant prohibition from frisking duty.
@Max — Fascinating take. I’m with on this as a distraction, but I must disagree with your ‘resounding success’ comment—Not at all. They’re just breaking stuff without fixing or improving.
@Julie — Like I said to your similarly silly response in Gary’s other recent post (on First Class demographics): Lighten up.
You can engage or ignore. Why do you seek to limit my or anyone else’s freedoms (of speech and otherwise)? Speak your mind, and I’ll defend your reasonable right to do so, even when I disagree with you. Exercise your right. Don’t atrophy. Call me names. I can take it. In fact, I may enjoy it.
Historical records, at various times, show that great empires do not perish due to external attacks from other empires. It is usually a case of self-inflicted decline, a decline created by their own leaders. This happened with the Middle Kingdom, the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, the Habsburg Empire, the Hoehzollern Empire, Mussolini’s improvised empire, even the Nazi Empire itself, which made mistakes after mistakes, and above all, the case of the Roman Empire, and its delirious and insane emperors. It seems that the turn has come for the American Empire, under Trump, the idiot himself in command of a great empire, which is being destroyed not by the Chinese or Russian opposition, but by the delirious initiatives of Trump himself. I think it is a ridiculous way to decline, but the Americans chose an idiot to govern…
@Honesty Integrity
Come On Man, Nazi Germany rhetoric. How childish and wrong.