TSA to stop using ‘anomaly’ in describing transgender passengers

Theodore Schleifer Rene Marsh
By Theodore Schleifer and Rene Marsh, CNN
Updated 4:02 PM EDT, Sun October 18, 2015
Passengers at a security checkpoint in John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The Transportation Security Administration has a program called SPOT that lets behavior detection officers screen passengers' facial expressions for potential malicious intent.
Passengers at a security checkpoint in John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The Transportation Security Administration has a program called SPOT that lets behavior detection officers screen passengers' facial expressions for potential malicious intent.
Mark Lennihan/AP
Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hugh Handeyside says there's no evidence that deception or "mal-intent" can reliably be detected through observation, especially in an unstructured setting like an airport screening area.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hugh Handeyside says there's no evidence that deception or "mal-intent" can reliably be detected through observation, especially in an unstructured setting like an airport screening area.
The Charlotte Observer,Todd Sumlin/AP
People at security lines in Denver International Airport. The SPOT program officers typically spend less than 30 seconds scanning an average passenger for over 90 behaviors that the TSA say are linked to stress, fear or deception.
People at security lines in Denver International Airport. The SPOT program officers typically spend less than 30 seconds scanning an average passenger for over 90 behaviors that the TSA say are linked to stress, fear or deception.
A TSA officer hands a passenger his identification at a security checkpoint at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington.
A TSA officer hands a passenger his identification at a security checkpoint at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington.
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images
A passenger goes through security at LaGuardia Airport in New York. TSA officers' perception of people's behaviors is inherently subjective, Handeyside says. The fact that many people find airport settings inherently stressful only compounds the problem.
A passenger goes through security at LaGuardia Airport in New York. TSA officers' perception of people's behaviors is inherently subjective, Handeyside says. The fact that many people find airport settings inherently stressful only compounds the problem.
Sipa/AP
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Just about everyone outside the TSA who has reviewed the SPOT program has decided that it's unscientific and a waste of money, Handeyside says.
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Just about everyone outside the TSA who has reviewed the SPOT program has decided that it's unscientific and a waste of money, Handeyside says.
Mark Lennihan/AP
Travelers walk through security past a mural at Denver International Airport. Despite the criticisms, SPOT remains in place and has cost taxpayers well over $1 billion since its inception in 2007. The SPOT program should be terminated, Handeyside says.
Travelers walk through security past a mural at Denver International Airport. Despite the criticisms, SPOT remains in place and has cost taxpayers well over $1 billion since its inception in 2007. The SPOT program should be terminated, Handeyside says.
Chris Schneider/AP
TSA is looking at your 'micro-expressions'

Story highlights

The TSA announced the change after a transgender woman complained about her experience at an Orlando airport

The agency has removed the word from its website

Washington CNN  — 

The Transportation Security Administration will stop using the word “anomaly” to describe transgender passengers, the agency said this week.

The agency, which has removed the word from its website, agreed to stop using the term after Shadi Petosky, a transgender woman, complained online about her experience last month at an Orlando airport. The woman protested after airport security held her for 40 minutes because of an “anomaly” detected when she walked through the full body scanner.

She tweeted the entire interaction:

“I am being held by the TSA in Orlando because of an “anomaly” (my penis),” Shadi Petosky tweeted last month.

The TSA replied that it would investigate.

”.@JennyBoylan TSA takes all potential civil rights violations very seriously. We are looking into the situation now for further information,” the agency said.

The TSA says in its procedures that it screens transgender people as “he or she presents themselves at the security checkpoint.” And now it also pledges to review its training policy so that officers are more sensitive to these passengers.

The change was cheered by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

“Transgender people deserve respect, safety, and equal treatment everywhere. Good move by @TSA,” she tweeted.

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