Transgender forced to remove prosthetic penis by airport security

A transgender passenger has revealed he felt 'demeaned' when he was forced to remove his prosthetic penis while going through airport security.

The man was subjected to a full body scan at the airport, thought to be in Australia, after which a staff member donned two pairs of gloves to handle the penis, saying, "you want me to touch that thing with my bare hands?"

The incident, which allegedly took place in 2015, is the subject of a complaint made via the National LGBTI Health Alliance in Australia to a Senate committee inquiry on airport and aviation security.

The LGBTI Health Alliance released a statement noting its worries over the "climate of pervasive discrimination against LGBTI populations".

According to the passenger, the body scan alerted security staff to the prosthetic he was wearing.

He told Daily Mail Australia: "I explained to the officer at the scanner that I am trans and that I was wearing a prosthetic, to which he responded that he would need to get his supervisor.

He added that the staff member seemed "more concerned with displaying his authority and making a spectacle out of the situation".

The private search, he says, was "demeaning" and "unnecessary" and left him feeling anxious as he was taken to a small room and given a form to sign.

After the search, he says he was forced to put his prosthetic back in black with two staff members watching him.

He stated that the ordeal made him feel like a criminal, adding: "I have had to deal with some very confronting situations in the past so have developed a thick skin, but this experience overshadowed what was meant to be a holiday and it has left me feeling incredibly degraded and has made me anxious about travelling."

The complaint has been lodged with an ongoing Senate investigation which is due to publish its findings in May.

Source: Mirror.co.uk

Transgender forced to remove prosthetic penis by airport security

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