Too little, too late.

Ms. Hamlin HAD suggested showing the piercings to a female agent:

"Hamlin said she could not remove them and asked whether she could instead display her pierced breasts in private to the female agent. But several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was out, she said." AP

Since they didn't change the rules until this woman was embarassed beyond belief, she unfortunately has to deal with the "situation in which she found herself."

So does this mean the male TSA agents will now request a special room with a stagge, pole, and funky music for their private viewings?

This is disgusting. It is as bad as having to let them grope you if you have an underwire one. Give me a break. No one messes with the twins unless they buy dinner. No peep shows, no copping a feel.
I drive to vacation spots now.

What do people who have their genitals pierced do when confronted with the TSA? (Creeps me out, but to each their own.)

Too bad they aren't "taking it seriously".

I have a number of body piercings, including 8 in a "very sensitive" area, but have never had any trouble passing through security. Yes, the hand held detector always goes off over them, I always say "body jewelry", and they say "OK".

I think this was a case of a small group of screeners who became overzealous in their work (and overinflated in their ego). The TSA, however, is not an agency that easily admits fault. Using a "bra bomb" example to justify the actions? for shame.

I would really like to know what horrific events have been prevented by the TSA's new and improved screening process.

As for my piercings? It would take pliers and the assistance of a second person to get them all out.

Very silly, and ribex, you know they'll insist they remove a clit piercing until someone else complains like the nipple piercing girl. After that, they'll allow a "flash" similar to this response.

@ribex: Yeah, like who do I have to flash my "TSA sucks" prince albert piercing to in order to get through security? I notice they were quick to respond on the specific case of nipple piercings but a bit mum on the other piercings, any of which could set off the detector just the same.

I fly 3-5 a week. I also travel with a companion whom has such body jewelry in these sensitive areas. She removes them and places in temporary plastic pieces until she gets to her location. What these screeners did was correct no matter how offended some of you may be. If you also read this ladys statements on multiple web sites you will see she demanded the pliers from those screeners to remove the piercings. As a person who does fly a lot she also stated that she just wanted to be patted down in nipple and breast area and would have preferred that. Well folks that is not an option for sensitive areas. She stated it was from what she read of a tsa web site. Well guess what those are only general suggestions and not their full protocols folks.
Again, it's to bad this lady was made to feel humiliated but again you are only hearing her limited side of the story fed through a publicity hound attorney. Remember not everything you read or hear is fact, Remember those WMD's?

I really want to see a news report of what happens to somebody who refuses to be humiliated, berated or belittled in an incident with the TSA. Somebody who is traveling with family, or on business, and chooses to walk away and go back home rather than submit. Somebody who will lose business, or lose an entire family vacation rather than put up with this crap. And then I'd like to watch it go through the court system and see the TSA struggle to justify having rules that permit their goons to treat human beings like this. It will never happen, though. And of course, the problem is that 50% of the time, people are just trying to get HOME from that business trip or that vacation. And airplane travel is to expensive for most people to walk away from, to say "my dignity is worth more than this plane ticket."

hmmmm.... I forsee male tsa agents pulling out every smoking hot chick for a wand scan in the hopes that they have nipple/snatch piercings just so they can get flashed.

What some people like forgottenpassword don't get is Males Don't Wand nor View Females. They can only screen same gender. Not hard to tell people with no experience commenting on items they have clue about.

@azgirl:
"I drive to vacation spots now."

Unfortunately, not practical if you're trying to go trans-Pacific. I don't think there are passenger cruises that cross any of the major oceans either... or are there? It'd still take an eternity.

This is the perfect solution, folks! Everyone knows that people who pierce their nipples are perfectly okay with public nudity, so it'll just be like removing one's shoes before going through the detector. "Please remove your shirt and bra before proceeding..."

@lr0405: What about the screener who doesn't want to see someones saggy tits. It's not fair to them. Thats why I have no problem with the remove them or don't fly thing.

@APFPilot:
Your quite right. Screeners don't want to see your body parts anymore than you wish to show them. Frankly I can't wait to see some poor female or guy screener sue a traveler for sexual harassment by flaunting their wares at them in a suggestive manner. The more I read about this matter and the more I see people who obviously don't travel making comments about this issue just makes me laugh. Those of us who do travel extensively would be happy if the rest of you stayed home! It makes it easier for us to get where we need to go without you holding up the lines.....

Everyone should fly naked.
It would solve everything.

IMHO, bodily piercings that can set off metal detectors and you can't easily remove at the screening point should fall under the category of "leave at home or pack in checked luggage when flying." I don't know first hand how hard they are to remove/re-insert, but nobody said flying and dealing with the TSA had to be easy.

So, you guys know they have special private rooms for this, and it's always with a same-sex agent, right?

And you know they've been doing this for years for people with pacemakers and heart monitors, right?

I'm not saying it's a great solution or that it couldn't be exploited or taken advantage of. I'm just saying there's no reason to get all huffy about it here and now. Private inspections have been going on for at least a decade. I dunno why this particular TSA agent felt the need to be the nipple police, because there is a protocol.

great, now screeners have to look at boobies, etc. Thanks, I'm sure my friend who works for TSA will appreciate that.

If you think that your Jewelry might set off an alarm, be ready to show it or take it off before hand.

In todays ****ed up world, it's better to be safe than sorry. If the TSA feels it's necessary to leave no rock unturned, I'm all for it.

If they start letting people through without inspection, any crazy terrorist **** can hide a knife in his/her crotch and say it's "body jewelry".

I get that it's cool to hate the system, but these precautions are ****ing necessary .

Maybe we should just eliminate metal detectors. They seem to inconvenient for some of our pierced friends. Or separate flights for those who don't want to be bothered by security?

Yes I am joking. I'm just tired of people complaining that we will not make concessions to their lifestyle choice. If you want to have permanent piercings, good for you, but it seems like people who are complaining about having to take them out(which I understand can be damaging), are now complaining because it might be embarrassing to have to show them. Should TSA just take your word for it? I guess it would be faster.

@sewrig01: Seriously?

@sewrig01: TSA simply shouldn't exist in the first place. Other nations have better air security. Admittedly stricter, but they don't go all apesh*t on you for all the wrong reasons.

So I'm assuming, in the name of equality and fairness, they'll have a similar policy in regards my Prince Albert. While standing in line, drop trou?
Yes!!!

All person willing to fly must conform to established societal norms. They must fall into the prescribed race, nationality and economic class. They must not be deviant in an sexual or political manner. They absolutely must never engage in any conflict no matter what happens.

Violators have no rights at all and threaten national security theater will be humiliated in every way possible, and possibly have their life threatened.

@BayStateDarren: " I don't know first hand how hard they are to remove/re-insert..."
At this point, a little voice in your head should have yelled, "So I'll shut the f*ck up and not comment about something that I'm ignorant about."
Right?!

@BlackestRose: I hate the TSA as much as the next guy, but in this case I actually agree with them. Any thing that sets off the metal detector has to be verified.

@azntg: You state that TSA should not exist in the first place?
Were you to travel through some of those other airports, Londons-Heathrow, Germany, or Especially Isreal you would be extremely surprised as how timid US Security really is in comparison.
I keep reading and its as though posters are well worn international travelers.
Well as a guy who makes his living moving through airport after aiport I would attest most of you haven't the slightest clue about security and especially overseas security.
London uses the full body scan technology that leaves NOTHING out! No curve, No imperfection but especially no weapons escape it. When this was introduced here the ACLU and all you whinny babies cried foul and the few that are in use here are so dumbed down it's pathetic. How do I know, I have been in them, used them, and walked away knowing I was flying safely.
Again to those who fear the public finding out what you have under your garments remember the old adage "Never wear in public what would embarras you in front of your mom or dad"

"if an alarm goes off, until that is resolved, we're not going to let them go through the checkpoint, no matter what they're wearing or where they're wearing it."

Obviously this is selective enforcement. What about people with metal plates in their head or shrapnel in their body?

Given the popularity of body piercing and the obvious embarrassment, this policy should have been stated up front. The passenger was ambushed by the TSA dreaming up new policies on the spot.

@edrebber:
It's not a new policy. Just like this woman and her glory hound attorney they took a posting on a web site and stated it is their full set of procedures. How clueless can people be?
TSA is not going to post their real full procedures on any web site including their own for terrorists or wannabes to use to their advantage in dreaming up ways to subvert them. Get a CLUE People!

@edrebber: Does titianium set off a metal detector too?

When they officially announced this, I imagined a resounding cheer coming from the male TSA goons.

@edrebber: They get a card signed by their doctor when they get those implants detailing what they are.

@APFPilot:

Check, perhaps. Humiliate in public, no.

Googling the "Bra Bomb", allegedly the impetus for the invasive procedure, is not a thin piece of material covering skin. In the one known case in Sri Lanka, it bulky, large and filled with explosives. It does not contain a small piece of wire, but quite a bit of metal. There is no such thing as a tiny micro bomb contained in a nipple.

The agents could have used common sense and human decency to guide their actions. Clearly they had other options of searching available to them. But they either had another motivations or were stupid enough not be able to conceive of any other way to look for danger.

The logical conclusion of this type of security is that you will have to be a "approved" human to fly. Reading the comments, many people want to dismiss this woman because she is out of the norm. What happen when that norm narrows even further, so that less and less people are allowed to fly.

Out of the norm? The situation is off, but I know more and more people (frightening!!!! /sic) with oddly-placed piercings.

@edrebber:
You obviously have no clue concerning procedures. So many people are basing "Facts" off what is posted on a web site albeit tsa's as the full procedures they use.
Are you all that clueless? No government agency including TSA is going to post their real full procedures for every bin laden wannabe on their web site for these idiots to dream ways up to beat them. Get a clue folks.

These screeners sure aren't perfect but I would rather fly with them screening instead of the having nothing in place as some of you have stated.
And to you Wraithsama, as has been posted multiple times men don't screen women. This is all done in private as this lady stated. Nobody is in there with them while they remove stuff. They won't till they say it is done.

I wonder what exactly is in a nipple ring that is dangerous. How many terrorists have nipple rings? has any suspect ever have a nipple ring? if the answer is yes to any, i would be shocked.

@BlackestRose: how else can you confirm why something in the breast area is causing the detector to go off?

@BlackestRose: see, "common sense and human decency" there's your problem. you're still using a pre 9/11 mindset. we as a nation have blithely given up so many things we used to take for granted. my sweetie (who has a nipple piercing, btw) lives 700 miles away from me, a 12-hour drive, but i will gladly spend an entire day on the road in order to be able to pack bottles with more than 3 oz. in them, keep a soda in the cup holder, and most of all, miss all the crap you go through in security. it isn't just the people way outside the mainstream that protest this kind of treatment. it's also many, many so-called average people who really miss common sense and human decency and are willing and able to use alternatives to air travel.

@kittenfoo:
Thank You, Now I can fly without one more person in my way holding up the line. Twelve hour drive, times gas prices and an entire day wasted, and all those fast food breaks in between. Thanks for supporting our economy, I for one appreciate your sacrifice.

@APFPilot:

According to their own rules, the person in question can submit to a pat down, or visual search. Further less intrusive scrutiny might have included swabbing for explosives.

However, the agents in question, chose the most humiliating and painful alternative, removal, with male agents close at hand to witness the entire affair.

TSA shouldn't have any right to look at your piercings. PERIOD! This is immoral and unethical. I don't have any piercings but I'm not threatened by someone who does. This is great for perverted twisted TSA agents though.
I always thought in all these years of travel perhaps we could look to EL AL the Israeli national airline. Somehow they don't NEED to look at peoples private parts and they don't have hijackers get on their planes.

@jamar0303: There are actually several that I found that cross the Atlantic, and I would have to assume some that cross the Pacific as well, but either way, departure ports and arrival ports are limited. You can however take a 107 day cruise around the world: [www.princess.com]

@dubs29: By the way we flew all the way up to 9-11 without any of these dumb procedures! If GOVERNMENT security had been up to par we wouldn't even be having this debate!

@BlackestRose: Their NEW rules, what if the agent didn't want to look at her breasts?

According to the TSA's website:

>>On its Web site, the TSA warns that passengers "may be additionally screened because of hidden items such as body piercings, which alarmed the metal detector."

"If you are selected for additional screening, you may ask to remove your body piercing in private as an alternative to a pat-down search," the site says.<<

She was never given the pat down alternative. As for the personal preference of the female agent "not wanting to look at breasts", the female agent never got a chance to say one way or the other "...several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was out." Anyway, the female agent supervised the removal procedure, so my guess is that she didn't have a problem with looking at titties.

As for the job requirement of breast peeping, I assume that female TSA agents have to be prepared to do strip searches in the most extreme cases of looking for ...um... "contraband" when required.

it might help recruit more TSA applicants. LOL.

Pics or it didn't happen!

But seriously.. you would think this would have come up before. People didn't start getting body piercings in 2007.

@LionelEHutz: prob'ly

@nospamsam: i used to think that, too. then i realized the real problem is narrow minded, petty, power tripping, asshats - those sorts will always find something to justify an extra heap of humiliation & pain for people outside their stunted version of normal

@APFPilot: perhaps professional piercers need to issue similar cards. . . i know i'd carry one for my piercings

@VikingP77: love to see how they train their true professionals to handle these matters & have the same training applied here. not that i expect any of the local PTB to actually do something rational.

sad to say when fear forces people to lose their common sense, dignity & humanity - the terrorists have effectively won.