A trans-identifying male transportation security agent at Dulles International Airport is suing the agency over a new policy relating to passenger screening, alleging that it is discriminatory to prevent him from conducting security pat-downs of female passengers.

The Trump Administration implemented the policy in February that prohibits transgender officers from performing pat-down searches. Internal documents, obtained by the Associated Press, state that, “Transgender officers will no longer engage in pat-down duties, which are conducted based on both the traveler’s and officer’s biological sex.” 

Now, a transgender officer, Danielle Mittereder, is suing the Department of Homeland Security, alleging that the policy constitutes sex discrimination.

The federal lawsuit reads, “Solely because she is transgender, TSA now prohibits Plaintiff from conducting core functions of her job, impedes her advancement to higher-level positions and specialized certifications, excludes her from TSA-controlled facilities, and subjects her identity to unwanted and undue scrutiny each workday.”

The lawsuit also states that the plaintiff has not faced complaints about the officer’s job performance and that supervisors have “praised her professionalism, skills, knowledge, and rapport with fellow officers and the public.”

As a result of the policy, the plaintiff fears that the officer’s career advancement might be hindered because “all paths toward advancement require” that employees are able to conduct pat-downs.

A lawyer for the plaintiff, Jonathan Puth, told the Associated Press the policy is “terribly demeaning and 100 percent illegal.”

A TSA spokesman told the Sun, “In compliance with Executive Order (EO) 14168, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, published January 20, 2025, TSA has rescinded a policy from 2021 regarding transitioning and transgender officers. Male Transportation Security Officers will conduct pat-down procedures on male passengers and female Transportation Security Officers will conduct pat-down procedures on female passengers, based on operational needs.”

The executive order referenced states that it is the official policy of the federal government to only recognize two sexes.

Internal documents state that if a passenger tells TSA officers that they identify as a different gender than they appear, then “the traveler should be patted down based on his/her declared sex.”

If a passenger states that they are “neither a male nor female,” the officer dealing with them is supposed to tell them that “pat-down screening[s] must be conducted by an officer of the same sex.”

The DHS says the new policy is a reversal of a Biden-era directive that TSA employees be assigned work that is consistent with their gender identity.
Responding to the lawsuit, a spokeswoman for the DHS, Tricia McLaughlin, asked the AP if it wants “female travelers to be subjected to pat-downs by male TSA officers.”

Ms. McLaughlin defended the policy, telling the outlet that it is a “useless and fundamentally dangerous idea” to “prioritize mental delusion over the comfort and safety of American travelers.”