Copied from bodlon. What’s the S in TSA stand for again?
This is an EXCELLENT collection of links to accounts with the new TSA regulations, as well as generally good commentary on the situation. Not to mention brings up some important issues with the scanners AND pat-downs in regards to trans-folk. Worth a read. It's triggery, I will be up front with that. Read it, if you can.
WARNING: Post may be triggery for individuals with issues surrounding invasion of privacy, or survivors of sexual assault.
Hi. I am (as far as my legal documentation is concerned, at least) a human being. As a human being, I have some basic rights, declared by an international authority. As an American citizen, I also have some basic rights declared by my federal government.
Specifically, I’d like to draw attention to the following:
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5
“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
- Amendment IV of the United States Constitution
In short, I have the right to basic security and privacy of my person (save in the case of probable cause) and to not be unreasonably searched nor subjected to degrading or cruel treatment.
I point this out because beginning October 29th, the TSA began rolling out a new screening process that involves “enhanced pat-downs” - or frisking which includes contact with the face, genitals, and chest - for individuals who opt out of being screened by full-body scanners, which give the TSA an image of the individual’s naked body.
That is, if one chooses to travel, one must show the TSA their entire naked body in a format which has already been abused and may affect your health, or opt out of that and let them pat down or squeeze your genitals, breasts (if you have them), and whatever other parts of your body they wish as a matter of course.
Here’s one woman’s account (via PNC Minnesota):
“He started at one leg and then ran his hand up to my crotch. He cupped and patted my crotch with his palm. Other flyers were watching this happen to me. At that point I closed my eyes and started praying to the Goddess for strength. He also cupped and then squeezed my breasts. That wasn’t the worst part. He touched my face, he touched my hair, stroking me.”
That woman, incidentally, is a seasoned flyer. She’s also an assault survivor who has spent years working to feel safe after being raped who had a choice between something that makes her feel unsafe and humiliated and…oh. Something that makes her feel unsafe and humiliated.
And she’s not the only one. There are already multiple reports of abuses, including male TSA officers trying to coerce women who have opted out into allowing them to do the screening, citing a “long wait” for female officers. The TSA has already admitted that the new screenings are designed to frighten travelers into consenting to full body scans by punishing and humiliating those who opt out.
Another article, at The Atlantic, captures the attitude:
I asked him if he was looking forward to conducting the full-on pat-downs. “Nobody’s going to do it,” he said, “once they find out that we’re going to do.”
In other words, people, when faced with a choice, will inevitably choose the Dick-Measuring Device over molestation? “That’s what we’re hoping for. We’re trying to get everyone into the machine.” He called over a colleague. “Tell him what you call the back-scatter,” he said. “The Dick-Measuring Device,” I said. “That’s the truth,” the other officer responded.
The pat-down at BWI was fairly vigorous, by the usual tame standards of the TSA, but it was nothing like the one I received the next day at T.F. Green in Providence. Apparently, I was the very first passenger to ask to opt-out of back-scatter imaging. Several TSA officers heard me choose the pat-down, and they reacted in a way meant to make the ordinary passenger feel very badly about his decision. One officer said to a colleague who was obviously going to be assigned to me, “Get new gloves, man, you’re going to need them where you’re going.”
The same journalist has also posted a follow-up.
This is not okay.
Should a security agency be allowed to take reasonable precautions in order to prevent weapons from being carried into secure areas? Of course. That’s what they’re for. But giving the public a choice between being irradiated and being groped isn’t maintaining public safety. It’s allowing a security agency license to batter and humiliate - nay, terrorize - travelers.
My desire to get somewhere far away in a matter of hours rather than days or weeks does not constitute probable cause to believe I intend to hijack an aircraft any more than setting foot in a grocery store constitutes probable cause to believe I intend to poison a room full of elementary school kids by mixing the bleach and ammonia based cleaners found in Aisle 6.
How exactly is this comedy of bad options supposed to make me feel any safer? What will an “enhanced pat-down” or a backscatter imaging machine find that a metal detector, chem sniffers, and airport beagles won’t? As the fellow at The Atlantic pointed out, a terrorist who opts for a pat-down could slip through just fine with something hidden in the vagina or anus.
(And look, as much as I love a guy in uniform, the TSA is not invited en masse to investigate my cavities.)
Ironically, as a transperson, I’m probably best off opting out of the scanner. My prosthetic, my bound chest, and my slightly wonky identification are a potential recipe for disaster any day of the week, but based on past experiences with being frisked I’d say the chances of getting through a pat-down without being taken aside and strip searched are better than if I submitted to a body scan.
People who wish to do ill will find a way, no matter how much we punish the innocent. Taking off my shoes and my belt and putting all of my itty-bitty soaps and shampoos in a zippy bag and running my luggage down the magic belt is ridiculous enough, but I at least come out of it secure in the feeling that my body is my own, and I can decide who is allowed to see or touch certain parts of it.
Think this is ridiculous and live in the US? Write your elected officials. Had a bad experience? Contact the ACLU.
This post has been mirrored from bodlon's journal, and Christian A. Young's Dimlight Archive. To see it in its original format, visit dimlightarchive.com
WARNING: Post may be triggery for individuals with issues surrounding invasion of privacy, or survivors of sexual assault.
Hi. I am (as far as my legal documentation is concerned, at least) a human being. As a human being, I have some basic rights, declared by an international authority. As an American citizen, I also have some basic rights declared by my federal government.
Specifically, I’d like to draw attention to the following:
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5
“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
- Amendment IV of the United States Constitution
In short, I have the right to basic security and privacy of my person (save in the case of probable cause) and to not be unreasonably searched nor subjected to degrading or cruel treatment.
I point this out because beginning October 29th, the TSA began rolling out a new screening process that involves “enhanced pat-downs” - or frisking which includes contact with the face, genitals, and chest - for individuals who opt out of being screened by full-body scanners, which give the TSA an image of the individual’s naked body.
That is, if one chooses to travel, one must show the TSA their entire naked body in a format which has already been abused and may affect your health, or opt out of that and let them pat down or squeeze your genitals, breasts (if you have them), and whatever other parts of your body they wish as a matter of course.
Here’s one woman’s account (via PNC Minnesota):
“He started at one leg and then ran his hand up to my crotch. He cupped and patted my crotch with his palm. Other flyers were watching this happen to me. At that point I closed my eyes and started praying to the Goddess for strength. He also cupped and then squeezed my breasts. That wasn’t the worst part. He touched my face, he touched my hair, stroking me.”
That woman, incidentally, is a seasoned flyer. She’s also an assault survivor who has spent years working to feel safe after being raped who had a choice between something that makes her feel unsafe and humiliated and…oh. Something that makes her feel unsafe and humiliated.
And she’s not the only one. There are already multiple reports of abuses, including male TSA officers trying to coerce women who have opted out into allowing them to do the screening, citing a “long wait” for female officers. The TSA has already admitted that the new screenings are designed to frighten travelers into consenting to full body scans by punishing and humiliating those who opt out.
Another article, at The Atlantic, captures the attitude:
I asked him if he was looking forward to conducting the full-on pat-downs. “Nobody’s going to do it,” he said, “once they find out that we’re going to do.”
In other words, people, when faced with a choice, will inevitably choose the Dick-Measuring Device over molestation? “That’s what we’re hoping for. We’re trying to get everyone into the machine.” He called over a colleague. “Tell him what you call the back-scatter,” he said. “The Dick-Measuring Device,” I said. “That’s the truth,” the other officer responded.
The pat-down at BWI was fairly vigorous, by the usual tame standards of the TSA, but it was nothing like the one I received the next day at T.F. Green in Providence. Apparently, I was the very first passenger to ask to opt-out of back-scatter imaging. Several TSA officers heard me choose the pat-down, and they reacted in a way meant to make the ordinary passenger feel very badly about his decision. One officer said to a colleague who was obviously going to be assigned to me, “Get new gloves, man, you’re going to need them where you’re going.”
The same journalist has also posted a follow-up.
This is not okay.
Should a security agency be allowed to take reasonable precautions in order to prevent weapons from being carried into secure areas? Of course. That’s what they’re for. But giving the public a choice between being irradiated and being groped isn’t maintaining public safety. It’s allowing a security agency license to batter and humiliate - nay, terrorize - travelers.
My desire to get somewhere far away in a matter of hours rather than days or weeks does not constitute probable cause to believe I intend to hijack an aircraft any more than setting foot in a grocery store constitutes probable cause to believe I intend to poison a room full of elementary school kids by mixing the bleach and ammonia based cleaners found in Aisle 6.
How exactly is this comedy of bad options supposed to make me feel any safer? What will an “enhanced pat-down” or a backscatter imaging machine find that a metal detector, chem sniffers, and airport beagles won’t? As the fellow at The Atlantic pointed out, a terrorist who opts for a pat-down could slip through just fine with something hidden in the vagina or anus.
(And look, as much as I love a guy in uniform, the TSA is not invited en masse to investigate my cavities.)
Ironically, as a transperson, I’m probably best off opting out of the scanner. My prosthetic, my bound chest, and my slightly wonky identification are a potential recipe for disaster any day of the week, but based on past experiences with being frisked I’d say the chances of getting through a pat-down without being taken aside and strip searched are better than if I submitted to a body scan.
People who wish to do ill will find a way, no matter how much we punish the innocent. Taking off my shoes and my belt and putting all of my itty-bitty soaps and shampoos in a zippy bag and running my luggage down the magic belt is ridiculous enough, but I at least come out of it secure in the feeling that my body is my own, and I can decide who is allowed to see or touch certain parts of it.
Think this is ridiculous and live in the US? Write your elected officials. Had a bad experience? Contact the ACLU.
This post has been mirrored from bodlon's journal, and Christian A. Young's Dimlight Archive. To see it in its original format, visit dimlightarchive.com