Male ‘Trans’ TSA Agent Wants to Pat Down Women So Bad He’s Filing a Lawsuit Over it
A transgender TSA employee has filed a lawsuit challenging the federal agency’s policy that restricts officers from conducting pat-downs on passengers of the opposite sex.
Danielle Mittereder, who identifies as a woman, argues that the Department of Homeland Security’s rules, implemented under President Trump, violate federal civil rights law. The policy requires TSA agents to screen only members of their biological sex.
Mittereder, who joined the TSA in June 2024 and is based at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, says the policy prevents him from performing key duties and pursuing career advancement. According to the lawsuit filed earlier this month, the restrictions “impede her advancement to higher-level positions and specialized certifications, exclude her from TSA-controlled facilities, and subject her identity to unwanted and undue scrutiny each workday.”
The policy is “terribly demeaning and 100 percent illegal,” Danielle Mittereder’s lawyer Jonathan Puth says. https://t.co/5PIw6xApU2
— The Advocate (@TheAdvocateMag) November 14, 2025
During his tenure, Mittereder consistently presented as a woman and conducted pat-downs of female passengers between October 2024 and February 7, 2025. After that date, an executive order signed by President Trump prohibited him from patting down women. The lawsuit states that this action discriminates against him for failing “to fulfill traditional sex stereotypes” and caused “anguish and humiliation,” prompting him to take leave for several shifts.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the Associated Press, “Does the AP want female travelers to be subjected to pat-downs by male TSA officers? What a useless and fundamentally dangerous idea, to prioritize mental delusion over the comfort and safety of American travelers.”
Mittereder’s attorney, Jonathan Puth, countered, saying the policy is “terribly demeaning and 100% illegal.”
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