Trans Man Allegedly Forced to Remove Prosthetic Penis by Australian Airport Security

A transgender passenger said he felt "demeaned" when he was allegedly forced to remove his prosthetic penis while going through airport security in Australia last year, the Daily Mail reports.

The unidentified passenger went through a full body scan but airport staff members allegedly asked him to remove his prosthetic penis. One employee reportedly put on two pairs of gloves to handle the device and said, "you want me to touch that thing with my bare hands?"

The alleged incident took place in 2015 and is the subject of a complaint made public by the National LGBTI Health Alliance in Australia to a Senate committee inquiry on airport security. Wikipedia writes the organization is a non-profit company established in 2007, which focuses on mental health, suicide prevention, intersex health, transgender health and data collection.

According to a statement released by the LGBTI Health Alliance, the group said it was concerned over the "climate of pervasive discrimination against LGBTI populations."

The trans passenger detailed the alleged incident to the Daily Mail.

"I explained to the officer at the scanner that I am trans and that I was wearing a prosthetic, to which he responded that he would need to get his supervisor," he said. "In full view of other travelers, the Supervisor approached me putting rubber gloves on. He seemed more concerned with displaying his authority and making a spectacle out of the situation.

When I asked him what the gloves were for, he told me that he was going to do a 'private search,'" he continued. "'Not only did this make me feel incredibly uneasy, and anxious, but it was demeaning and unnecessary."

He was then taken to a small room with two security officers and signed a form before the body search. That's when the employee put on a second pair of gloves. The passenger ended up placing the prosthetic on a tray and the supervisor patted him down.

"Once he was satisfied, he turned around and opened the door for me to leave - my prosthetic still sitting in the tray," the passenger told the newspaper. "I asked him to close the door so that I could have some privacy as I placed my prosthetic back in place. He closed the door and both men stood watching me as I put it back in place.

I felt that the supervisor had no regard for me as a human being and treated me as though I was a criminal right from the beginning, even though I had taken all steps to cooperate with him," he went on to say. "I have had to deal with some very confronting situations in the past so have developed a thick skin, but this experience overshadowed what was meant to be a holiday and it has left me feeling incredibly degraded and has made me anxious about traveling."

The Daily Mail reports the Australian committee will make its final report in May.