When Dawn Henry, a 52-year-old mother from Arizona, decided to surprise her 21-year-old nonbinary child with a plane ticket on Delta Airlines, she discovered there was no appropriate gender option available.
Henry’s child is listed as neither exclusively male or female on their birth certificate and Washington state driver’s license, with an “X” listed in the gender box.
Henry took to Twitter Thursday to call out the airline for their lack of accommodation for nonbinary passengers.
“I am committed to fixing this, not just for my child, but for everyone who holds legal ID with an X gender marker,” Henry told NBC News in a Twitter message. “My hope is that pressure on the airlines (not just Delta, but the others that have not updated their systems) will get this done.”
“Getting this done” is something Delta was supposed to have already taken care of.
Three years ago, Delta was among a number of major airlines in the U.S. who announced plans to make their booking tools more inclusive.
Both American Airlines and United Airlines have already updated the drop-down menus on their websites to include a nonbinary option under gender.
But Delta has yet to make the change, and when contacted by Henry, she said a supervisor told her that Delta only recognizes male and female genders.
“…As it stands, at least with @Delta, #nonbinary people are not allowed to fly,” Henry tweeted. “The supervisor said that’s not true. But when a policy makes it impossible to buy a ticket that will comport with TSA guidelines, the result is the same. And that’s discrimination.”
According to TSA guidelines, an airplane passenger’s name, birthdate and gender on their boarding pass must match their government-issued ID. This regulation effectively excludes nonbinary passengers recognized as such on their official documentation from flying Delta as long as they only allow for male and female gender listings.
A Delta Airlines spokesperson told NBC News that the nonbinary addition to the gender options on the company’s flight-booking tools has not been made because it hasn’t made its way through the multiple departments who must approve the change, despite the company having made the announcement back in 2019.
“Delta Air Lines is a proud, long-time supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and we understand that being seen and acknowledged is part of having an equitable travel experience,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “While we quickly shifted focus due to COVID in early 2020 to helping customers navigate the rapidly changing environment and government regulations, we are back on track to be able to offer a non-binary gender option in our booking systems in 2022.”
For her part, Henry has said she won’t seek legal action.
“I am glad they are finally promising to follow through on a commitment they made four years ago, but a promise is not enough,” Henry said after learning of Delta’s response. (The airline did not respond to her directly.) “I will not stop pursuing this until every U.S. Airline with a discriminatory reservation system has made the long-overdue changes.”
So far, over a dozen states – including California and New York – legally recognize a third gender option for nonbinary citizens.
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