A transgender woman says she was held at an airport because her penis showed up as an "anomaly" when she was going through security.

Shadi Petosky says she felt humiliated after having to have a 40-minute pat down by staff at Orlando International Airport.

She was pulled aside and inspected for explosives after passing through a full body scanner for women.

Petosky, who is a writer, decided to live tweet her experience.

She says she was taken into an interview room where she told Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials she was transgender, explaining "That's my penis".

Staff then told her she needed to pass through the full body scanner as a male, which she agreed to.

She says she was embarrassed about it, felt humiliated and didn't want a woman to "pat her crotch down".

By the time she was released she says she'd missed her flight to Minneapolis and had to buy another ticket.

The TSA responded to her complaint saying: "TSA takes all potential civil rights violations very seriously. We are looking into the situation now for further information."

Staff at the airport told her she could avoid problems in future by asking for a private screening.

Petosky ended her tweets by saying: "The only reason my story went national is because a lot of other people want these changes too."

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