Transgender Pilots Just Want To Fly

Acceptance of transgender pilots is improving in the aviation community but advocates say more progress is needed across visibility, communication, and understanding.

Thom Patterson

Thursday, June 30, 2022 at 09:15 AM ET

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Pilot Tamsyn Waterhouse won a legal battle with the FAA over requirements for her third-class medical certificate. [Courtesy: Tamsyn Waterhouse]

Key Takeaways:

Transgender pilot Tamsyn Waterhouse faced significant discrimination and burdensome FAA medical requirements that grounded her for three years, treating her identity as pathological.
Her advocacy, supported by various organizations, led to a landmark victory in 2012 when the FAA revised its AME guidelines, eliminating unnecessary psychological testing for transgender pilots.
Despite policy improvements allowing Waterhouse to pursue a fulfilling aviation career, the article highlights that transgender pilots still face isolation, ignorance, and discrimination, particularly in general aviation, underscoring the ongoing need for greater acceptance and inclusive industry practices.

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When Tamsyn Waterhouse’s father took her flying in his red and white Cessna 150 as a child growing up in Manitoba, Canada, he set her on a path toward becoming a professional pilot. What she didn’t know at the time was how challenging that journey would be.

By the time she was in graduate school, Waterhouse says she realized that she had to transition to female to be herself. The hurdles began a few years later as she was a pilot closing in on getting her IFR in California.