Queer Eye's fashion guy Tan
France has accused the TSA of racially profiling him.
The 35-year-old France was born in
England to Pakistani parents. He currently lives in Salt Lake City
with his husband Rob France, a self-described Mormon cowboy.
France said in a tweet that a TSA agent
told him that he keeps getting extra security checks because his name
“is on a list.”
“I've been put through extra security
checks 3 times this week, and was just told by a TSA agent it's
because my name is on a list,” France said. “WTF? I'm brown but
that does not mean I'm a damn security risk!!!”
According to the
Daily
Mail, France explained on his Instagram Story that he knows
why he's being “profiled.”
“I’ve just gone through security at
the airport, it took me over two hours. And this is now the third
time this week,” France said. “What happens is when you’re
checking in, they tell you that you can’t use your pre-check
because there’s a security issue. At that point they take you out
of line, and then they search you, and they give you a pat down –
which is humiliating – where they check everything. And then they
go through all your bags – and they take a good 45 minutes to go
through your bag.”
“So the reason why I wanted to post
this is so I can tag TSA and hopefully they’ll see this at some
point and figure out why the f**k they’re treating me like this.
Because I know the answer. I know why I’m being profiled,” he
added.
In a statement given to E!
News, TSA said that it could not “comment on the security
designation for specific individuals, and there are a number of
reasons a passenger can be selected for additional screening,
including random designation.”
(Related: Tan
France joined Queer
Eye
because he wanted Trump to see his “gay Muslim face.”)