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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on January 19, 2023 in a video: The Transportation Security Administration spent “a couple hundred million dollars” on gender-neutral screening technology. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") * National * Transportation * Facebook posts ![\\"In](\\" In a June 10, 2020 file photo, airport passengers are processed at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at Denver International Airport in Colorado. (AP) ![\\"Gabrielle](\\" By Gabrielle Settles January 27, 2023 # Claim vastly overstates government’s spending on TSA’s gender-neutral screening technology #### If Your Time is short * The Transportation Security Administration spent $18.6 million on gender-neutral screening technology, not \"hundreds of millions,\" as a video claimed. See the sources for this fact-check A man recording a video while in line at the airport Transportation Security Administration checkpoint had another agenda besides flying. In the video posted Jan. 19 on Facebook that’s been viewed nearly 500,000 times, the man said he wanted to identify as a woman to see what TSA agents would do, and filmed his interaction with the agents. PolitiFact identified the man in the video as Christopher Key, an anti-vaccine activist who has made headlines for staging demonstrations that include telling Walmart pharmacists they would be executed for administering vaccines, and encouraging his followers to drink their own urine to combat COVID-19. At the 2:50-minute mark in the more-than-5 minute video, Key told the TSA agents, \"You guys spent a couple hundred million dollars on those that identify as binary or transgender, okay, so I’m opting out and I just want to see how my taxpayer money is being spent.\" After being patted down and leaving the TSA checkpoint, Key turned the camera on himself and told viewers: \"Our government has just spent millions of dollars for those that identify as (non) binary and transgender. And I was trying to find out today what our money was spent on, but I got pat down by a woman. So, why don’t we all start identifying the opposite sex, and make it as uncomfortable for them as they make it uncomfortable for us.\" The video was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.) The price tag that Key assigned to the new TSA gender-neutral screening technology misses the mark by a mile. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" black/4590875651af69b2c789ceab409664dd.jpg\\") ![](\\" black/72988380e8c8bd188dc360d11552e4a0.jpg\\") X posts stated on August 18, 2024 in X post Photo shows “pallets or containers of bricks have been found near locations designated for protests related to the Democratic National Convention” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Caleb McCullough • August 20, 2024 On March 31, 2022, the TSA announced it had received $18.6 million to improve its Advanced Imaging Technology units in airports, otherwise known as the screening machines passengers pass through at TSA checkpoints. Agency press secretary R. Carter Langston told PolitiFact that before the change, the screening units required that TSA agents signal on the machines whether a passenger is male or female, based on the passenger’s physical appearance. The new technology, funded by the U.S. Senate’s Fiscal Year 2022 omnibus appropriations package, removes that requirement, making the process gender- neutral and more streamlined, Langston said. The new technology, which was rolled out in airports in December, will \"improve the customer experience of travelers who previously have been required to undergo additional screening due to alarms in sensitive areas,\" the March 2022 news release said. Langston said the technology will also reduce the number of false alarms, which improves efficiency. Our ruling Key claimed the TSA spent \"a couple hundred million dollars\" on gender- neutral screening technology. TSA spent $18.6 million on gender-inclusive screening technology, not \"hundreds of millions.\" We rate the claim False. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Facebook video, Jan. 19, 2023 The Washington Post, Self-proclaimed ‘Vaccine Police’ tells Walmart pharmacists they ‘could be executed’ for administering shots, Aug. 19, 2021 Daily Beast, Anti-Vax Leader Urges Followers to Drink Their Own Urine to Fight COVID, Jan. 9, 2022 Transportation Security Administration, TSA announces measures to implement gender-neutral screening at its checkpoints, March 31, 2022 NewsNation, TSA rolling out gender-neutral screening in January | Morning in America, Dec. 15, 2022 Senate Appropriations Committee, FY2022 Omnibus Appropriations Package - Topline Summary, accessed Jan. 26, 2023 Interview with R. Carter Langston, press secretary for the Transportation Security Administration, Jan. 26 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Gabrielle Settles slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on May 20, 2023 in a post: “If you shopped at Walmart in 2022, you could be entitled to a $500 refund!” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Gabrielle Settles • May 26, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on May 19, 2023 in a post: Dr. Sebi was killed “for revealing the truth” about the health benefits of burdock plants. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Gabrielle Settles • May 25, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on May 18, 2023 in a post: Says a report shows that “Ventilators Killed Nearly ALL COVID Patients” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Gabrielle Settles • May 23, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on June 15, 2020 in una publicación en Facebook: Joan Rivers fue asesinada por decir que Michelle Obama es trans. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Maria Briceño • June 30, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on June 19, 2023 in a video: Rep. 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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “faces 5 Years in Jail For FEC Crimes.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Gabrielle Settles • June 23, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on June 12, 2023 in a post: Says a video showing water inside a glass on a spaceflight proves space isn’t real ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Gabrielle Settles • June 16, 2023 ### Claim vastly overstates government’s spending on TSA’s gender-neutral screening technology * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on September 13, 2024 in a post on Threads: “ABC lost $27M in ad revenue after advertisers pulled ads from the network after the way they hosted the debate\" on Sept. 10. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Madison Czopek • September 15, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 8, 2024 in a social media post: Photos that show lists of school names are “school shooting lists.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Andy Nguyen • September 15, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: A video shows a body that Israel embedded with a bomb exploding during a Palestinian funeral procession. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 11, 2024 in a post: “ESPN has fired Shannon Sharpe.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Gideon Hess • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on September 12, 2024 in a post on Threads: An image shows Travis Kelce responding to Elon Musk X post that followed Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: Former President Donald Trump admitted during the Sept. 10 presidential debate that he “blew up the Nord Stream pipeline.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Loreben Tuquero • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 10, 2024 in a Facebook post: Patron, Don Julio and Pink Whitney tequila recalled because they contained fecal matter. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Elissa Slotkin stated on September 11, 2024 in a TV ad: Mike Rogers supported “laws that could eliminate IVF and birth control.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Caleb McCullough • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 11, 2024 in an Instagram post: \"Debate moderators made the false claim to Donald Trump that there is nowhere in the United States where abortion is legal up until birth.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 12, 2024 in a Facebook post: ABC News fired presidential debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • September 13, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. 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The Transportation Security Administration spent a couple hundred million dollars on genderneutral screening technology