How to Mitigate the Stress of Flying While Trans
The airport security process brings scrutiny onto the bodies, belongings, and identity documents of all passengers. Such an intense focus on how people look, what they are carrying, and how their appearance compares to their documentation can be stressful for many people.
This invasive process has a particular impact on trans people — especially trans people who also belong to other groups that commonly come under suspicion in the airport security process, such as some Middle Eastern or South Asian trans people.
Discrepancies between how trans people look and what shows up on their identity documents or on the results of a body scanner can lead to harassment and discrimination.
Simply preparing for the possibility of such mistreatment is a stressful process that many transgender people go through before getting to the airport; that said, most of the time, transgender people can proceed through security without incident.
Regardless, it never hurts to know how to mitigate any potential issues and to be prepared to respond to problems at the airport.
