The federal government wants to make traveling easier for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming travelers.
On Thursday, International Transgender Day of Visibility, the Department of Homeland Security announced new measures designed to better serve all U.S. travelers, regardless of their gender identity.
Those measures are part of a “whole-of-government effort to promote equity and inclusion in all our programs and processes” and aimed at better protecting all travelers while “ensuring that everyone, regardless of gender identity, is treated with respect,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
The announcement comes after a proclamation on Trans Visibility Day issued by President Joe Biden, in which he said that the entire Biden-Harris administration is “committed to ensuring that transgender people enjoy the freedom and equality that are promised to everyone in America.”
According to the DHS, later this year the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will update its current Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) scanners with new technology that increases security and efficiency by reducing false alarm rates and pat-downs for the traveling public.
With this more advanced technology replacing the current gender-based system, the agency will “advance civil rights and improve the customer experience of travelers who previously have been required to undergo additional screening due to alarms in sensitive areas,” the DHS said in a news release.
Until the new gender-neutral AIT screening technology is in place, TSA will adopt “more efficient, less invasive screening procedures” for travelers who trigger the AIT system in a sensitive area — which will reduce the need for pat-downs, without compromising security.
“Over the coming months, TSA will move swiftly to implement more secure and efficient screening processes that are gender-neutral, as well as technological updates that will enhance security and make TSA PreCheck enrollment more inclusive,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske.
TSA PreCheck, a program that allows trusted travelers to receive expedited screening for domestic and select international flights, will soon be updated to include an “X” gender marker option on its application.
Starting April 11, transgender and nonbinary applicants will be able to select “X” as an option on their passports to denote “unspecified or another gender identity.”
According to Pekoske, “These combined efforts will greatly enhance airport security and screening procedures for all.”
Trans rights advocates applauded the announcement by the Biden-Harris administration, noting that TSA’s “critical changes” will “make it easier for transgender people to travel.”
“President Biden demonstrates his administration’s commitment to equality of all people under the law,” Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality, said in a statement. “Today’s actions will help reduce harassment, discrimination, and violence against transgender people who are just trying to live our lives.”
