This is my first time flying with my new Colorado DL/REAL ID, going through TSA with an ‘M’ (instead of ‘X’ or, previously, ‘F’) on my ID.
And it’s been wonderful for now.
Not because of the ‘M’ — after all, I’ve been “sir’ed” and “man’ed” when traveling through airports for at least a couple years now, at least since my top-surgery.
It’s been wonderful because of the brief but heartwarming connections I’ve made with three people — three men of color.
I’m wearing my three Pride wristbands (rainbow, nonbinary colors, trans colors) and a short-sleeved T-shirt, so the wristbands are evident; my T-shirt has a big progress flag on its front, right on the chest; and I have a small progress flag sticker on the bag that I am carrying.
The Black man who helped me at the drop-off for checked luggage saw my wristbands. He didn’t say anything about them and I’m not sure the nonbinary and/or trans colors meant anything to him, but I could tell he registered the presence of my wristbands. He and his Hispanic colleague “sir’ed” and “man’ed” me, of course, but then they also joked with me in a very pleasant, relaxed way from which a sense of camaraderie transpired clearly.
A short while later, as my security interaction with the young Black TSA agent was ending and I headed towards screening, he smiled and said, “I like your shirt. I like that it also has the brown & black colors in the flag”.
Such a completely different experience from typical TSA checks. Instead of the usual nervousness or detachment, all at once I felt this wave of connection, brief but powerful and heartwarming: not only did I feel seen but also, and maybe foremost, I felt that I had extended my hand — figuratively, thanks to the progress flag on my T-shirt — to a fellow human and allowed him to feel more comfortable with me.
The Little Prince and the Fox 