A transgender woman claims that a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent punched them in the genitals.
The trans woman, who goes by the name Mara, posted on social media that a TSA agent “punched” them in the genitals during a security checkpoint routine at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport on Saturday.
🚨| NEW: Trans woman left sobbing in JFK airport after TSA agent hit her testicles‼️😳 pic.twitter.com/QJb8RPOTQy
— Pubity (@Pubity) March 26, 2023
“[Hi] so a [TSA] agent at [JFK] airport punched me in the genitalia, yelled at me for having a penis (?) and humiliated me in front of everyone after I told her to please stop,” Mara wrote in a now-deleted social media post.
“[The TSA agent] followed me into the women’s bathroom and began talking about me to a coworker while I sobbed in a stall,” they added.
In subsequent posts on Twitter, Mara posted a since-deleted selfie showing her sobbing in a bathroom stall, complaining that her “balls still hurt so bad” from the alleged incident.
“I don’t want the TSA agent that hurt me fired,” they said. “I want her educated and the entirety of [the] TSA abolished altogether.”
In response to Mara’s accusations, the JFK Airport provided an official statement. An airport representative initially asked them for more information regarding the alleged incident, including which terminal it took place in and any identifying information regarding the TSA agent.
Mara reportedly replied, but the tweet was later removed. The airport then apologized to Mara for the incident.
“Thank you for your response. We apologize again for your experience. Your comments have been noted and shared,” the airport said from its official account.
Reporters have reached out to the TSA for comment, but they did not immediately return the request.
This comes as transgender issues have become a hot button issue in recent years. Most recently, Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee signed a law prohibiting transgender students from using restrooms at public schools that match their gender identity.
The law makes it the first of several states to enact such bans this year amid a flood of bills nationwide targeting transgender people.
The rule in Arkansas, which won’t go into effect until later this summer, covers locker rooms and multi-person facilities at public and charter schools that serve students in prekindergarten through grade 12.
