New House Bill Could Ease Airport Security Screening for Transgender Travelers

Despite long odds in the House, a Democratic representative has introduced a bill that would require the Transportation Security Administration to develop new screening requirements for transgender flyers.

Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-New York, introduced H.R. 6420 on Thursday, also called the “Screening with Dignity Act.” The bill would require the TSA to study the “disparate impact” of secondary screening on transgender passengers versus other passengers.

In airports that use full-body scanners, the scanners are calibrated according to common “male” and “female” physiology. If a person is transitioning, changes in their anatomy would register as an “anomaly” and they can be detained for search. Transgender people also have difficulty requesting private screenings if a TSA supervisor declines to provide an agent of the gender they request for a pat-down.

Rice’s bill would require the TSA to study, since 2010, how often “a self-identified transgender passenger was required to undergo a secondary screening procedure after alarming the advanced imaging technology involved.”

The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.