Been a while since we felt sorry for a groping TSA agent, as opposed to ourselves at the mercy of a groping TSA agent. But Ashley Yang got the worst end of this deal: In her lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration, Yang, a very delicate, femmie transgender woman who happened to have been born a man, claims her LAX managers made her wear a manly wig (she chose a short afro; sweet) and use the men's restroom — then fired her when she didn't.

Worst of all…

… Yang found herself subjected to sexual harassment by the men she was forced to grope, under the TSA's narrow-minded “same-sex pat down” guidelines. (Pollyanna: “At least they didn't twist your boob!”)

She tells the AP that various skeezebags passing through the L.A. terminal said things like, “I haven't had a girl touch me for a long time,” or, “Does this mean you are going to buy me dinner?”

law logo2x bReally guys?

After terminating Yang for using the women's bathroom, TSA managers at LAX have been sent off to sensitivity training (because we know how well that works), and the plaintiff has been awarded a “five-figure award for pain and suffering.” But the real debate at the core of her story: When does one stop being a man and start being a woman, and does that require surgery?

In the case of airline passengers, U.S. Passport gender need only be determined by “a doctor's letter stating they have undergone a gender transition, which may have included psychological counseling and hormones,” according to the AP. But birth certificates and social-security records can't be modified until proof of surgery is provided. And despite Yang's ordeal, no clear-cut guidelines have been set for TSA staff.

What do you think: Should Yang have been allowed to frisk the fairer sex, despite her estranged man-parts?

[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]

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