Transgender woman detained by TSA due to 'anomaly' misses flight, she tweets

A Twitter user who goes by Shadi Petosky and identifies as a transgender woman took to social media detailing the incident.

(Warning: There is discussion of body parts in relation to the alleged incident on that Twitter account.) 

According to her tweets, the body scan machine detected what TSA officers called an anomaly, which Petosky wrote was her male genitalia.

Petosky tweeted how she told the officers she was transgender and was then held for 40 minutes, patted down twice and her phone was screened, ultimately causing her to miss her flight.

“It seems like it went a little too far,” said Terry DeCarlo, the executive director of The Center in Orlando, which acts as an advocate and haven for the LGBT community.

“There needs to be sensitivity training on how to handle different individuals,” said DeCarlo.

In a statement from the TSA, a spokesperson said officials reviewed video of the incident and decided the officer properly followed procedures.

TSA procedures state, “A passenger must identify as the gender listed on their identification to purchase their ticket and at the checkpoint. They can also request a private screening.”

DeCarlo said the procedures could pose a problem.

“There are transgender people that will not fly just for this because they’re afraid to go through and be embarrassed,” DeCarlo said.

The TSA spokesperson is standing by the procedures and said the agency takes everyone’s civil liberties very seriously.