March 27, 2021
Watch: Transgender Model and Activist Rose Montoya Speaks to TSA Headquarters About Security Experience
Matthew Wexler READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Transgender model and activist Rose Montoya recently shared her experience going through TSA security and the lack of sensitivity in communication and screening. Her experience gained enough attention that TSA Headquarters reached out for a candid conversation about transgender travel.
"Going through the scanner, there's a male scanner and a female scanner in the TSA checkpoint – and, looking at me, you know, I look like a woman and I am a woman," Montoya said in her TikTok. "But, going through the scanner, I always have an 'anomaly' between my legs that sets off the alarm."
Montoya was scanned twice and eventually required a pat-down, at which point the TSA agent asked if she'd prefer a man, to which she responded, "Absolutely not."
In her follow-up call, Montoya said, "I am a transgender woman who has never had bottom surgery, and I am very public about that in my videos, and education about my community is so vital to, you know, changing peoples' minds, and to end the ignorance, stigma, and violence against my community."
Watch the full video:
Matthew Wexler is EDGE's Senior Editor, Features & Branded Content. More of his writing can be found at www.wexlerwrites.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @wexlerwrites.
