Remember those traveling horror stories you used to hear about right after 9/11? Like the lady who was forced to drink her own breast milk to prove there was nothing in it? Apparently weird breast-related policies are still plaguing the Transportation Security Administration. Yesterday passenger Mandi Hamlin, 37, held a press conference with attorney Gloria Allred where she said she was humiliated last month after being forced to remove her two nipple rings behind a curtain at a Lubbock, Texas airport. Hamlin had to remove one of the rings with pliers – which was excruciatingly painful – all the while being subjected to the snickers from male TSA workers. Hamlin had offered to show a female TSA worker her piercings, but the employees insisted they had to be removed.

Hamlin and her lawyer, celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, said they want a public apology from the agency, as well as a guarantee that future passengers with piercings will be treated with dignity and respect. Allred pointed out that TSA’s Web site says passengers with piercings can undergo a pat-down inspection if they do not want to take their piercings out — an option she said Hamlin was never offered. “The conduct of TSA was cruel and unnecessary,” Allred told reporters at a news conference. “Last time that I checked, a nipple was not a dangerous weapon.” She said if an apology was not forthcoming, “Mandi is going to have to consider her legal options.”

“Ms. Hamlin did not want to remove her nipple piercings,” Allred said, reading from a letter she sent TSA. “After nipple rings are inserted, the skin can often heal around the piercing and the rings can be extremely difficult and painful to remove. In addition, once removed, the pierced skin may close up almost immediately, making it difficult and painful to reinsert the piercing.”

More officers were called over, and the group grew to four male and two female TSA officers, according to Hamlin. Also, a small crowd of onlookers had started to gather. The officers insisted that Hamlin remove the nipple rings, Allred said. “She felt humiliated by the scene that the TSA officers were making,” Allred said.

[From CNN]

The TSA is insisting their employees did everything right, but said they will change the policy so it doesn’t happen again in the future. Considering their website says passengers with body jewelry can undergo a pat down – yet Mandi Hamlin was forced to remove her rings with pliers instead – I’m not sure exactly how they can say the employees did everything right. The TSA also went out of their way to make sure they did not apologize to Hamlin, and just gave a bunch of bull “thanks for pointing that out” type comments instead.

Hamlin’s rings didn’t even set off the metal detector – but she was randomly pulled aside for additional security checks, and the hand-wand went off over her breasts. Normally the security personnel do a pretty good job, but in this case it sounds like they made a decision to humiliate this woman and not tell her about her own rights. I can’t imagine how humiliating and painful Hamlin’s experience must have been. It’s good that the TSA isn’t trying to insist that it’s a good policy, and has made it clear that they’ll change it. But they definitely owe Mandi Hamlin a very clear and remorseful apology.