It was my daughter and it happened in 2005 at Ft Lauderdale airport. It wasn't a scan vs pat down situation, it was some male TSA agents asking her to step behind a large black folding screen for further screening early in the morning. I have no idea what that meant but I objected. I'm no prude, my daughter was college age and I understand that once security steps in one's rights are limited. Still, then and now, there is no situation where agents of one gender can conduct any type of personal screening on a passenger of another gender, and the only circumstances male agents can escort a female passenger into a secluded area is when the passenger is being detained for security violations.That is the one I meant. Reading it again it may be that the male agents were demanding to look at the daughter's scan, rather than do the pat-down search. It's six of one and half a dozen of the other, as far as I'm concerned. I doubt that the male agents would be fighting for the privilege of patting down my middle-aged person or of looking at my scan, but I think a female agent should be assigned as a matter of course, to screen or search female passengers (and male agents for male passengers). Michael B shouldn't even have had to ask for a woman agent, and the fact that he was threatened with arrest when he did ask is absolutely outrageous!
The entire episode was unacceptable. One of the TSA agents got in my face and, although I did not initiate any contact, I also did not back away, and they may have seen that as challenging their authority. I suspect the supervisor was embarrassed because this was happening in public view. There is no doubt he was just trying to intimidate me when he gave me a stern warning.
