Two Toronto-based transgender artists and activists were arrested and detained after one of them allegedly bared her breasts on a flight to Edmonton, Xtra reports.
Lexi Sanfino and Nina Arsenault were on a flight to Edmonton on June 20 for a friend's wedding, according to friend Judy Virago.
Virago says Sanfino exposed her breasts, with Arsenault filming her, as an art project on trans bodies and public spaces.
"They were trying to create a piece on the demystification of trans women’s bodies in a public space," Virago told Xtra.
But the Toronto Star reports the incident was in response to questions from a flight attendant.
"She came over and said, ‘You guys have to teach us how to do our makeup,’" Arsenault, 39, told the Star. "And then they were like, ‘You know, because you used to be guys, right?’"
In response, Sanfino took her top off and "walked down the aisle with quite a bit of grace and flamboyance and had her arms out,” Arsenault said. “And then the flight attendants came and covered her up, saying ‘Think about the children!’”
On arrival, waiting Alberta RCMP officers arrested Sanfino, and Arsenault said she was handcuffed after refusing to stop filming the event.
Sanfino was charged with causing a disturbance, while Arsenault was released without charge.
Arsenault and Sanfino are well-known figures in the transgender community.
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