With many people traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, the National Center for Transgender Equality has released a new list of tips to help those who are transgender or gender non-conforming avoid mistreatment or humiliation while processing through airport security. Here is a reminder of the rights that all passengers have while being screened by the TSA:

1. You can opt out of body scanning machines at any time. However, travelers who opt-out of body scanning machines will be required to undergo a thorough pat-down.
2. Transgender travelers have a right to a pat-down by an agent of the same gender as the traveler. This is based on your gender presentation. The gender on your identification documents and boarding passes should not matter for pat-downs.
3. Travelers have a right to request that a pat-down be held in a private screening area, and with a witness or companion of the traveler’s choosing.
4. You should not any time be subjected to personal questions about your gender, or be forced to lift, remove or raise an article of clothing to reveal a prosthetic item. Prosthetic items include binding garments and breast forms.
5. All children under age thirteen have a right to modified screening procedures.

NCTE recommends the following tips for travelers:

1. Ensuring that the name and gender on your ticket reservation match the government-issued ID you bring to the airport with you. The gender on your identification and on your ticket reservation does not need to match your current gender presentation.
2. Downloading the Fly Rights iPhone and Android application before your travel, which makes it easy to report complaints directly with the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
3. For frequent travelers, exploring the TSA Pre-Check program which offers “expedited screening.”

Everybody deserves the same opportunity to travel safely to visit their family and loved ones, but not all security personnel may properly understand how best to respect transgender passengers. With patience and understanding, all travelers will arrive safely at their destinations with their dignity intact.

Download NCTE’s full guide here.

Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman came out in 2010, and earlier this year apologized for participating in the anti-gay tactics that were part of President George W. Bush’s re-election campaign. Now he has launched a new non-profit, Project Right Side, to recruit conservatives to support marriage equality. He introduced the campaign in a Wall Street Journal column today:

Some misperceive the issue of marriage equality as exclusively progressive. Yet what could be more conservative than support for more freedom and less government? And what freedom is more basic than the right to marry the person you love? Smaller, less intrusive government surely includes an individual deciding whom to marry. Allowing civil marriage for same-sex couples will cultivate community stability, encourage fidelity and commitment, and foster family values. [...]

Conservatives don’t need to change core convictions to embrace the growing support for equal rights for gay Americans. It is sufficient to recognize the inherent conservatism in citizens’ desire to marry, to be judged on their work, and not to be singled out for higher taxes or bullying at school. These objectives can be achieved while also protecting religious liberty, as demonstrated by states enacting civil marriage with exemptions for religious institutions.

Mehlman’s rhetoric is not new. He has been making the case for equality in “Republican terms” since he came out, supporting campaigns in states like New York and Maryland to legalize same-sex marriage. What is new is the polling Mehlman has collected as part of Project Right Side. Here are a few data points he provides from a poll conducted in battleground states on election night:

• 56 percent said they support marriage equality.
• 62 percent said that the federal government should provide benefits to same-sex couples whose marriages are recognized in their state.
• 78 percent support some form of legal recognition, through either marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships.
• 80 percent believe the Golden Rule should apply to how gays and lesbians are treated.

Any effort to unabashedly support marriage equality is welcome, but some have been critical that Mehlman’s post-coming out political maneuvering still supports anti-gay Republicans as well. In February, the Huffington Post noticed that Mehlman was still helping raise funds for House Speaker John Boehner (R), who continues to spend taxpayer money to legally defend the odious Defense of Marriage Act. Change.org similarly noted that Mehlman has supported numerous Republican candidates who blatantly oppose marriage equality. Project Right Side may effectively convince some conservatives, but hopefully it does more than just cancel out the anti-gay politicians Mehlman’s efforts help sustain.