When the boyfriend - he'll be my husband after April 20th - and I travel we have had varied experiences when we go through airport security or recently when we went through security for a cruise on the Carnival Glory back in October. With Carnival, we were treated as a couple no questions asked. At airports, the experience has been mixed. Now, the TSA is changing its policies so that same sex couples will be treated the same way as straight couples. The Washington Blade as coverage. Here are highlights:
The Washington Blade has learned the Transportation Security Administration will allow same-sex couples to undergo pre-flight security screenings together in response to two recent incidents with American Airlines personnel at a Colombian airport.
Hunter Carter, a prominent same-sex marriage advocate in Latin America who said American Airlines personnel at the airport in the Colombian city of Medellín separated him and his husband, César Zapata, as they tried to check into their Miami-bound flight on Jan. 18, received an e-mail from Alec Bramlett, senior litigation attorney for the airline, on Wednesday afternoon.
“TSA has communicated to our Corporate Security folks that they are working on a technical change to its directive, and that pending that change, we can immediately begin screening same-sex spouses together,” wrote Bramlett in the e-mail the Blade obtained from Carter. “We are working on communicating this change in procedures to our stations ASAP.”
A TSA spokesperson confirmed to the Blade on Thursday the agency is “working to make clear any confusion in language included in the Aircraft Operator Standard Security Program (ASOP) document” that dictates security screenings.
“TSA policy is for every attempt to be made to accommodate all families traveling together,” said the spokesperson.
No doubt this change will result in more gnashing of teeth among Christofascists and bigots. The world and society are changing whether they like it or not.
No comments:
Post a Comment