So a question I’ve been asked a few times over the last year, which up until now I could not definitively answer is “is the EZP body scanner safe at airports?” so of course, on my recent flight to the states, I made sure I was wearing the EZP the whole way.
UPDATE: It appears that even though the EZP is MOSTLY undetected, it IS possible for it to show up. I’ve written an updated article explaining this here.
Apart from confusing the hell out of the virgin staff, trying to explain to them that not all Misters are necessarily male on their passports and that the two do not need to “match” as they put it, the flight was actually quite uneventful. (I really do wish that companies and organisations would just do away with salutations all together. They’re archaic and matter to no one except trans people, to whom it causes a whole world of drama.)
I had played out the scenario in my mind and what I would actually do if it DID show up (though in all honesty I didn’t expect it to) and had decided that should it indeed register on the new full body scanners, that I’d just smile and say “erm, do you really want me to show you what’s in my pants?” warn them politely that it is in fact a penis, but that unlike most penises, mine is detachable because I’m trans, and should they persist after that, I would just reach down my pants, and pull it out for all the world to see, however I am very grateful that it did not come to this.
So yeah, no dramas at all as far as the body scanners go. Rest assured, next time you’re traveling, your EZP will NOT end up exposing you to a full body frisking or be noted by the new full body scanners in any way at all.
Happy and safe travels!
UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: I had a TSA agent contact me after I posted the first update, and he explained to me that the way the body scanners work, is that in the US, it’s up to the TSA agent operating the machine to determine whether they are scanning a male or female body, so if the TSA agent determines that you are male bodied, the prosthetic will not show up, but if they determine you to be female bodied, then it will. In other countries, it is up to the person being scanned as to whether they enter the male or female scanner, so as long as you enter the male scanner, the prosthetic will not show up, but be aware that if you have not had chest surgery, that your chest may show up.
I’ve flown wearing the EZP several times. I was ready for annoying questions, being an activist. Never had an issue. I don’t think it is noticed. (Of course, about half the scanners are said not to work, it’s “security theater” (or as you might say “theatre”). :)
Regarding the passport issue; can you not get your gender confirmed on a passport in Australia? I was able to get mine changed on my British passport years before I even got the full GRC and birth certificate, it was one of the first documents that was easy to change. I don’t understand if this was a circumstance or a choice.
Basically to make a long and convoluted story short, I was traveling on my German passport, and as I am not a resident of Germany in any practical sense (for tax purposes of being a part of their medical system) I am left in a strange in between space where it is not possible for me to change gender on my German passport.
I just saw a thread with a post saying that if a packer is in a carry-on bag, it might be determined as “solid” or ‘liquid” by the scanner depending on the composition of the silicone. If liquid, it cannot be in the passenger compartment. Does anyone have anything to add or correct?
Yes I’d definitely say if you have a solid packer that contains liquid or a silicone gel to NOT have it in your carry on. As long as you are wearing it as you’re going through the scanner (and the TSA agent pushes the “male” button) it should be fine as long as it’s not a huge packer (which many of them are.)
Having said that, none of this would apply to any Transthetics products.