As part of the FY22 Omnibus Appropriations, the Biden administration gift TSA $18.6 million to implement “non-binary screening systems” in order to “advance civil rights.” Under the current imaging technology, TSA presses a pink or blue button corresponding to the traveler’s gender. “If the officer selects the female button and the machine detects something in the passenger’s groin area it could interpret a body part as a potential threat, issuing an alarm,” according to a report from ProPublica.
From The Blaze:
The TSA instructed Transportation Security Officers to reduce the number of pat-down screenings and to provide "less invasive screening procedures for certain passengers who trigger the AIT scanner in a sensitive area." In February, the TSA updated its standard operating standards to "remove gender considerations when validating a traveler’s identification at airport security checkpoints." "When travelers appear at the travel document checker podium for identity verification, gender information is irrelevant in determining that a traveler may proceed into the screening area," the TSA declared. The TSA allows PreCheck travelers to select an "X" gender marker option on its application as an "alternative gender category."
