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TSA Had to Check Bob the Drag Queen's Wigs & She Chronicled the Whole Thing Online
"Y’all, TSA man has removed my wig from the bag and is running it through the scanner by itself."
Hold onto your wigs, because the Transportation Security Administration (or TSA) is coming to snatch them!
RuPaul's Drag Raceseason eight winner Bob the Drag Queen detailed her experience with the TSA taking her wigs out of her luggage and checking them separately. Fortunately, what could've been an ugly situation instead turned into a bit of playful banter between Bob and the TSA on social media.
"Y'all, TSA man has removed my wig from the bag and is running it through the scanner by itself," Bob tweeted Tuesday morning.
\u201cYall TSA man has removed my wig from the bag and it running it through the scanner by itself.\u201d— Bobbiana (@Bobbiana) 1626801029
But that's not where the wig saga ended. Bob also described the TSA agent "walking around the TSA checkpoint with my sad wig in a tray" and bringing over another agent, a Black woman, to look at and inspect the wigs.
\u201cHe went to get the black lady to look at my wig.\u201d— Bobbiana (@Bobbiana) 1626801622
\u201cThe black lady is reassuring me that she knows what a wig is and they are running it through the machine AGAIN. After taking all the pins and the bump off.\u201d— Bobbiana (@Bobbiana) 1626801763
Finally, after the more knowledgeable agent was able to examine the guilty wigs, Bob the Drag Queen was able to take them and get on her flight. "The suspicious wig has been released from custody and is currently out on parole," she tweeted.
\u201cThe suspicious wig has been released from custody and is currently out on parole.\u201d— Bobbiana (@Bobbiana) 1626801937
That's when the TSA decided to get in on the social media fun.
"We heard you walked purse first through one of our security checkpoints," the TSA's Instagram account posted with a picture of the wigs in a tray. "No tea, no shade, and we sure hope you had a pleasant experience, but when it comes to security we do what needs to be done to keep you safe."
Okay!! It looks like the TSA's social media manager plays for our team!
"At times our officers may ask passengers to undergo additional screening, such as letting a wig out the bag to be run separately. This could be to resolve an alarm or as part of other security measures," they post explained. But they weren't done with the sass, or the Drag Race references.
"Now, Shante, you can stay," the post ended. "Thanks for your patience, hilarity, talent, and humility. Keep racking up them frequent flyer miles."
The TSA's got shade!!
Of course, despite the jokes, the TSA screening process is still a nightmare for many trans and gender nonconforming people. It'll take more than a few jokey posts about wigs to fix that.
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Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
