Trans air travel: this explains almost everything

Back in January 2012, trans Canadians were startled to learn transgender people weren't allowed to board airplanes in Canada through a detailed post by blogger Christin Milloy. The problem arose from changes to regulations governing the federal Aeronautics Act that had come in to effect in July 2011.

The Canadian Bar Association's Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference (SOGIC) wrote a letter urging the Minister of Public Safety to amend the regulations to be inclusive of transgender and gender non-conforming people.

A motion to repeal this portion of the Act was defeated 6 to 5 in a meeting of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

Where does this strange animus against transgender and gender non-conforming travellers come from? Why do legislators and policy makers freak out at the notion of trans folk travelling? Perhaps this clip from The IT Crowd (Series 3, "The Speech") explains it all:

... starting @ 1:30 on the clip:

Douglas: Oh, poppet. To think, when we met, you were so worried that you came from Iran.

April: What?

Douglas: When we met. As if I'd be worried about something like that. I don't care where you're from-- Iran, France--doesn't bother me. I'm very modern.

April: I'm not from Iran.

Douglas: Well you said something along those lines.

April: No, no--not Iran, a man. I said I used to be a man.

Home, sweet home ...

Via Slashdot, the American Department of Homeland Security considers the border to be within a 100-mile thick zone, according to a Wired article by David Kravets, DHS Watchdog OKs 'Suspicionless' Seizure of Electronic Devices Along Border. This generous border interpretation allows for searches on people passing through American border points long after they may believe they have completed this process.

According to a prior Wired article, ACLU Assails 100-Mile Border Zone as 'Constitution Free', and an ACLU fact sheet on what is described as a U.S. "Constitution-Free Zone", this interpretation of the border is being demarcated inland from the outer edge of the US border.

While this isn't happy news for folks on the inland side of that border, this is fortunate for those folks residing in Canada, because a substantial amount of Canada's "population lives in a narrow corridor at the southern part of the country, near the American border."

The 2006 Atlas of Canada from Natural Resources Canada has a population distribution map. Note the proximity of Canadian population to American borders.