Elizabeth Warren condemns ‘dehumanising’ screenings of trans people at airports
Elizabeth Warren on-stage during the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in San Francisco, August 2019. (JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images)
Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has condemned the news that transgender people in the US are being subjected to invasive screenings at airports in order to travel.
A ProPublica investigation revealed that trans passengers are being forced to endure invasive searches by the Transport Security Administration (TSA) in the US.
“Trans and non-binary people shouldn’t have to face invasive and dehumanising screenings to travel,” Warren, 70, tweeted on August 27.
“We must do better – and I’ll keep working to ensure that every trans and non-binary American is able to live without fear or discrimination,” she added.
Trans and non-binary people shouldn’t have to face invasive and dehumanizing screenings to travel. We must do better—and I’ll keep working to ensure that every trans and non-binary American is able to live without fear or discrimination. https://t.co/15HcJ17O94
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 27, 2019
Warren, who is currently senator of Massachusetts, recently added her pronouns to her Twitter and campaign bios in what is being hailed as a show of solidarity with the trans community.
She has also said that all trans Americans should be able to access affordable, gender-affirming healthcare.
Warren’s latest show of allyship to the LGBT+ community comes after her June 2019 reintroduction of a bill that – if passed – could see same-sex couples in the United States receiving $57 million worth of refunds in tax.
Trans passengers face humiliating TSA searches.
ProPublica found that – despite the TSA saying it is committed to treating all passengers equally and fairly – five per cent of civil rights complaints against the TSA related to the treatment of trans passengers, despite trans people making up less than one per cent of the US population.
As part of the investigation, a trans woman called Olivia (not her real name) revealed how she felt pressured into showing airport security in Florida her genitals in order to be allowed to fly.
TSA officers are not supposed to let passengers remove their underwear in front of them. But, according to Olivia, none of the TSA officers objected when she removed her pants and underwear to show them her genitals.
Jenny Burke, the TSA’s press secretary, said that airport screening is done “without regard to a person’s race, colour, sex, gender identity, national origin, religion or disability”.
