To put it another way: what's the difference between this form of non-violent protest and gay men kissing in public, nude protests, etc.? Using the discomfort of an oppressive regime that has the power to change whether they are uncomfortable to effect greater freedom for an oppressed group is fairly well-established. At its extremes, there's things like self-immolation. Protest using discomfort is pretty widespread (see also: what PETA and anti-abortion and anti-vivisection campaigners do, although there are perhaps arguments against discomfort caused by violence versus discomfort caused by sexuality, but I'm not sure I really buy them, even as much as I would like to.) And in this case, the TSA screener can choose to not touch you. You cannot choose to not be touched. Which makes it even more passive than any of the public forms of protest I mentioned.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject