A new directive by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued last week means the provision to opt-out of full body scanners is no longer a guarantee when going through security screening at airports in the U.S.
The Advocate reports that at the discretion of TSA agents, some transgender and other airline passengers will not be able to request a pat-down, and instead face mandatory scanning using the TSA’s Advanced Imaging Technology.
Once the machine scans an individual a TSA agent makes a determination on sight whether each individual is male or female, and the scanner follows programming that very closely aligns with that binary view.
Watch the CBS report above.