Government procedure rubs me the wrong way

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has recently implemented new pat-down procedures through the Transportation Security Administration. TSA’s airport security attempts to ensure that travelers do not bring contraband items on the airplane. I was fine with the new procedure until I heard that the TSA is now authorized to frisk in more regions.

I have a problem with the following options: photos taken of me fully clothed, yet naked, and strangers touching my genitals before I can board an airplane. This procedure is standard for everyone: your grandmother, your spouse, your daughter, transgender people, handicapped people, cancer survivors with prosthetics and rape victims.

Strangers in blue uniforms in the airport will now touch men and women in inappropriate ways. Some rape victims are so traumatized by the experience of being raped they cannot hold hands with someone they love. Now this same population is given the option in some cases of being touched on the genitals and breasts, or not flying to their destination.

Moreover, I am offended that TSA can do this to children. If any mother or father thinks that it is ok that their child be touched in this way, that parent should be arrested. The laws in this country are so strict about this that if you see a stranger touching a child inappropriately, you have to call the police or CPS and report child abuse.

In any other non-medical situation, these pat-downs would be completely unacceptable. This policy constitutes borderline rape. It is comparable to if you were out on a date and the person driving the car says, “Let me grope you, or I don’t let you ride home with me.”

The TSA is the same organization that should have stopped the 9/11 terrorists from bringing box cutters onto airplanes. If they were not able to stop these men, why should I be convinced that they can stop a dangerous nonmetal from entering a plane because they touch my genitals?

In a time of big government, we should not be surprised to see that a government organization is invading privacy in a novel way. Without intending to do so, they are using high and low tech ways to psychologically degrade and terrorize humans. Maybe some people feel more secure by being seen naked and touched by strangers, but the rest of us need to be protected from this insult to privacy.

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