Australian Drag Performer Tomi Grainger Detained At LAX Over Old Passport Photo
Image: Tomi Grainger Facebook
Australian drag performer Tomi Grainger was detained at Los Angeles International Airport after authorities did not think they looked like their passport photo.
In a post to Instagram, Grainger, 29, talked about the ordeal.
‘They Don’t Recognise My Passport Photo’
They claimed that the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) pulled them aside, at a secondary checkpoint, just prior to boarding the flight home to Sydney. They were in Los Angeles celebrating Pride Month and had been “trying to get home for seven days” after multiple flight delays and cancellations.
“I’ve been trying to get home for seven days. I’ve had four flights cancelled, 19 hours of flight delays. Stranded at the airport for two of those days, and I’m finally about to board my flight when I am, once again, detained at the airport. This time, same situation – they don’t recognise my passport photo,” Grainger said in the post.
“So I go through TSA, go through everything else. They do another security check now at some of the airports as you’re boarding the flight – I get pulled aside. They said ‘We’ve just seen your passport – this doesn’t look like you.”
As this isn’t the first time this has happened to them, they were able to get through security by showing the TSA news articles from past experiences.
Grainger was issued their passport eight years ago. Since that time they had plastic surgery, making them look different from their passport photo.
View this post on Instagram
Similar Incident In May
In May, Grainger had a similar experience, which they documented on TikTok. That time, it was at Sydney Airport.
During this incident, security was not going to let them through for the same reason.
“That’s when it dawns on me. I realised I don’t look like the person in my passport photo anymore – because I’ve had so much plastic surgery,” Grainger said.
“I ended up having to say to them, ‘Look, I’ve had some plastic surgery – I’ve had a facelift’… only then do they let me through.”
@tomi.queen This is hilarious #airport #passport ♬ original sound – Tomi 🌈
Luckily, their passport is due for renewal soon, and with that comes an updated photo and hopefully less hassle.
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