Queer stories from Airports have been disheartening. The security check is in itself a bitter experience and for the Queer and it cannot be more exhausting.
Here are few stories from the Queer who shared it on Twitter.
Smita –
Smita was travelling from Mumbai Airport. The security check asked her if she was a woman. She was asked for her ID card inside the booth where they scan women. She said that she was groped at least 3 times in the name of security check and the guards were precisely checking for the presence of her breasts.
Smita said that the prefix on her boarding pass was not enough proof. Smita identifies herself as a non-binary person.Â
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Nadika –
Responding to Smita’s tweet Nadika, a trans woman said that she cannot remember the number of times she had been groped at the airport security. Nadika said that she has even been groped by her chest when she tried to pass as a man. Nadika tweeted that the staff and passengers showed hate when she tried to pass through the women’s queue. Nadika has tried to explain that she is a transgender and she had to brief it to the police officers at the airport what it meant and why she was transitioning.
Nadika was furious as she had to explain her life story to officers just to pass through the security check. Smita said that it was difficult for Queer people in gender spaces because people question them not only about their gender but also look at them differently when they use the public restroom. Smita said that she was once physically pushed out of a women’s washroom.