ID Check

[Guest]

In the future I suspect we will see more of this type of interaction.  The agents are responsible for doing a positive ID check so I don't blame them for what happened.  Things could have been handled differently but in the heat of the moment and likely under pressure to get the flight out safely...…. and having reasonable doubt as to the correct ID...…  and not being trained in facial recognition……..  In any event isn't it the responsibility of the passenger to have the correct identification? 

WestJet passenger says she was 'in shock' after gate agent outed her as transgender

A passenger flying from Calgary to Saskatoon says she was left feeling "unsafe" and the target of stares and pitying comments after a WestJet agent outed her as a transgender woman to the other passengers on her flight.

Lenore Herrem was leaving Calgary when she says a WestJet agent outed her in front of fellow passengers

 

Sarah Rieger · CBC News · Posted: Aug 11, 2018 5:00 AM MT | Last Updated: an hour ago

 

Lenore Herrem said a WestJet agent outed her as a trans woman in front of the other passengers on her Calgary to Saskatoon flight. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press, Supplied by Lenore Herrem)

 

A passenger flying from Calgary to Saskatoon said she was left feeling "unsafe" and the target of stares and pitying comments after a WestJet agent outed her as a transgender woman to the other passengers on her flight. 

Lenore Herrem said the agent at the gate was "upset and confused" when she presented her ID and boarding pass for her flight home to visit her parents Wednesday evening.

• Alberta woman says Air Canada left her stranded in P.E.I. over ID mixup

Herrem's gender presentation is female, but her gender on her Montreal health care card is marked as male. The accompanying five-year-old photo on the ID card is also presented as male. 

"She got upset and said, 'They don't match,' but her colleague said, 'Yes, they do, it's fine, go ahead,'" Herrem said as she described the agent's reaction.

"So I gently and discretely expressed to her, 'It's because I'm transgender, that's why they don't match up. But my face is the same and my ID matches the name on my boarding pass.'"

She outed me in front of the whole airplane.- Lenore Herrem

Herrem boarded the plane and was settled in her seat for about 10 minutes when she said both gate agents boarded the flight, and the agent who had been confused once again demanded her ID.

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"She said something like, 'Oh, that's not the name I remember seeing on the computer when I looked at it,' and she started spouting off different, other women's names that were not mine," Herrem recalled.

"She rolled her eyes at me and said, 'Are you sure it wasn't your girl name that was on the computer?' … She outed me in front of the whole airplane."

Nothing like this has ever happened to Herrem before, and she said this was the first time she's ever had any issue with her ID. 

'Unsafe, vulnerable, belittled'

"I felt unsafe, vulnerable, belittled," she said. "I was in shock, it was quite traumatizing having someone, especially the way she did it so loudly and in front of everyone, it was really unprofessional."

Outing a transgender person against their will can put them in a dangerous or threatening situation and can have significant impacts on their mental health, according to the Egale Canada Human Rights Trust website. The charity works to improve lives of people on the rainbow spectrum.

• New LGBTQ film tracks 'enormous personal risk' Calgarians faced

Herrem said she often relies on "passing" as female, especially in unfamiliar places or when she's alone, to stay safe from harassment.

"She took that away from me," she said. 

WestJet apologized, is investigating

WestJet said in a statement that they have apologized to Herrem.

 

 

"WestJet's inclusive culture is a point of pride for WestJetters and our goal has always been to create a safe and inclusive environment for all," the company said in an emailed statement.

 

"We have extended our apologies to the guest and are reviewing the matter as we are continuously assessing and evolving our practices and policies to maximize inclusiveness and celebrate diversity."

The company said their policy is in line with Transport Canada's regulations, which requires travellers to carry government-issued photo ID with a gender marker, as Herrem did.

Herrem said a WestJet representative told her they will be doing an internal investigation. They also gave her a credit for the flight. 

"I was pleased with the way [the representative] did deal with it. She expressed that they will be implementing training to staff to deal with these sort of situations better in the future which was the most important thing for me to hear," she said.

[Trader]

Wait a second....is everyone now supposed to assume that if a person is identifying as transgender that they should not be 'outed' or that they want to be discreet???? What is someone supposed to do?? If your ID is male and your present as a female then you should be questioned. It is your choice to present/identify as another gender but not anyone else's responsibility to attempt to figure out how you feel about it.

This is getting out of hand and I don't see how they were 'unsafe'.

[internet]

But the person got to be on TV and the internet and will feel better about making sure they've been heard by exponentially blowing up the interaction, and the so called reporter got to write another trashing the airlines story - those get decent clicks.

 

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, internet said:

But the person got to be on TV and the internet and will feel better about making sure they've been heard by exponentially blowing up the interaction, and the so called reporter got to write another trashing the airlines story - those get decent clicks.

 

And he / she is definitely now "outed" in public. 

[lvlchange]

Shouldn’t your picture be updated?  If it was a drivers licence, would she/he have made it invalid?  Using 5 year old picture ID with opposing gender would make them irresponsible and illegal I’d say. 

[internet]

4 hours ago, Malcolm said:

And he / she is definitely now "outed" in public. 

Funny how that works - so instead of 14 people, now its tens of thousands and infinity with google.  So lets really think about what this complaint and call to the reporter was all about.

[Super 80]

One of my friends had to deal with a situation like this a few years ago and they were so frustrated at the end of the day they never wanted to deal with the public again. Their employer backed them up privately but nobody did a damn thing as the individual and then a bunch of bystanders descended on them.

[j.k.]

Sounds like a bumbling agent.

They let them on, the other agent was satisfied too, why then go on the aircraft 10 minutes later and make a scene?

I mean, sure, if you're going to be a boy and look like a girl, you have to be able to roll with it a bit sometimes in these situations and be prepared to explain things or clear up misunderstandings... it sounds like that happened at the gate though.

The agent needs to learn some discretion.

[Kip Powick]

Transgender travellers face undue airport stress and barriers, advocates say

By MADELINE SMITHStarMetro Calgary

Wed., Aug. 15, 2018

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CALGARY—A transgender woman’s complaint about her treatment at a Canadian airport is no surprise to advocates who say air travel can be a minefield of bias against trans and gender-diverse people.

Last week, Lenore Herrem said a WestJet agent at the Calgary airport outed her as transgender in front of other passengers after getting confused because the gender on Herrem's identification did not match her presentation as a woman.

Last week, a woman reported that a WestJet agent at the Calgary airport outed her as transgender in front of other passengers after getting confused about the gender marker on her identification.  (MARCUS OLENIUK / TORONTO STAR)

 

Herrem posted on Facebook about the experience, saying after she boarded the plane, the gate agents came back and questioned her, loudly asking whether she had used her “girl name” to book the flight, even though the name on her ID matched the one on her boarding pass.

WestJet issued an apology to her, and Herrem said the company told her it would do an internal investigation and implement training for the future.

Herrem added in a text message Wednesday that using her ID to travel was never a concern before, but she now feels “extremely uneasy.”

Being identified as transgender without consent is a concern because it can put trans people at risk of discrimination and harassment, advocates say.

“Airlines should be implementing training to make sure this doesn’t continue,” Herrem said.

In a statement, WestJet said it is reviewing the incident “as we are continuously assessing and evolving our practices and policies to maximize inclusiveness and celebrate diversity.”

But trans and gender-diverse people say air travel can be a particular source of fear and anxiety, and the problems extend from the check-in desk to the boarding gate.

Part of the stress comes from Public Safety Canada’s Secure Air Travel Regulations, which say an air carrier must not transport a passenger if “the passenger does not appear to be of the gender indicated on the identification presented.” A person may have to present a document signed by a doctor or therapist explaining their appearance has been changed “for medical reasons” if they don’t resemble the photo on their ID.

 

 

 

Egale Canada Human Rights Trust has an online resource dedicated to tips for “travelling trans,” which offers help for navigating identification requirements and searches at security checkpoints.

Trans-rights advocates say security be especially harrowing for trans people, as it further raises the possibility of having to disclose their status if they’re selected for further screening.

Amelia Newbert, a co-founder of the Calgary-based Skipping Stone Foundation, which supports trans and gender-diverse youth, said the fear of experiencing transphobia while travelling is a long-standing issue.

“As a trans individual, it’s a concern to me, and I think there are very few trans people I know who don’t have that fear or who don’t have stories or pretty awful experiences,” she said.

Marni Panas, left, and Angela Reid say trans people face unnecessary barriers when they travel through airports.  (KEVIN TUONG FOR STARMETRO / SUPPLIED)

Marni Panas, a transgender woman who works as a diversity and inclusion professional in Edmonton, said she made a deliberate decision to get a Nexus card to minimize potentially stressful interactions with airport officials.

Before she changed her gender on her passport, she said she regularly had to tell airport workers that she was trans in order to board a plane.

“I always had to have that conversation at the gate as to why — a conversation I should never have to have. ... Right away you can see that pause, you can see that look.”

But she notes that having updated ID and a Nexus card represents a position of privilege, and not everyone has the means to access them. In her view, that makes it even more crucial to make sure airport and transportation workers are informed about gender diversity.

“Certainly, there has to be some serious education to the front-line people about these issues,” she said.

“They can’t just have customer-service policies. They have to have specific sexual orientation, gender-identity and expression policies.”

When asked whether WestJet has policies about working with LGBTQ customers or whether employees receive education about trans communities, a company spokesperson said workers complete Respect in the Workplace training annually, and people in “guest-facing roles” also do sensitivity training.

The spokesperson wouldn’t provide additional details on what the sensitivity training included, but added that “WestJet encourages WestJetters to wear their exclusive pride pins as a sign of inclusivity and support, and we also participate in Pride parades and events happening across Canada every year.”

In response to the same question, Air Canada said it does not require passengers to select a gender when booking a flight, and they strive to ensure that “our customers feel safe, comfortable, and respected when they choose to travel with us.”

Newbert said it’s frustrating that trans people often have no choice but to over-prepare for a flight with multiple forms of ID and documentation in case they’re questioned about their gender. She said she has resorted to bringing literature about human rights and travel policies to the airport in case she faces questions from a transportation worker.

“You put yourself in a headspace that for however long you’re travelling, it’s going to be a period of pretty intense anxiety and distress,” she said.

“It can be an extremely triggering and traumatizing time ... It stems from the fact that we’re existing and living in a world that’s not set up to accommodate us.”

Angela Reid, a board member of the Trans Equality Society of Alberta, said incidents like the one recently reported at the Calgary airport can be avoided with some simple “trans 101” education for service providers.

“The easiest way to deal with so many of these issues is to ask the person, ‘Is there information we need updated here?’ ... You don’t even necessarily have to say which item it was,” she said.

“Bursting out with accusations that you’re in some way trying to trick everybody is not the way to do it.”

Newbert notes that gender identity and expression are protected grounds in the Canadian Human Rights Act, but if people aren’t educated about what that means and how those rights should be respected, trans people will face undue burdens to keep themselves safe.

“Until we see some really fundamental changes to the systems ... which includes a fundamental cultural change in terms of who we accept and how we embrace and perceive gender, we’re going to continue to see these problems.”

[Lakelad]

.

Natives not the only folk beating on a drum.....

Ministry contacting WestJet over outing of transgender passenger

'All passengers must feel safe to be themselves,' says Ministry of Transport spokeperson

Thu Aug 16, 2018 - CBC News
by Sarah Rieger

Transportation Minister Marc Garneau has instructed his staff to contact WestJet after a passenger said one of the airline's gate agents outed her as a transgender woman to other passengers on her flight.

"When the incident was first reported, the Minister instructed his office to get in contact with WestJet so that measures are taken to prevent this type of incident from reoccurring," said spokesperson Delphine Denis, in an emailed statement.

Lenore Herrem was flying from Calgary to Saskatoon last week when she says the gate agent expressed confusion while checking her ID and boarding pass.

Herrem's gender presentation is female, but her gender on her Quebec health-care card is marked as male. The accompanying five-year-old photo on the ID card also presents as male. But the name on both her ID and boarding pass matched.

One of the agents was confused over the male ID, but Herrem said she quietly explained that she was transgender, hence the discrepancy.

"My face is the same and my ID matches the name on my boarding pass," Herrem said.

She boarded the plane, but shortly both gate agents boarded and the agent who had been confused again demanded her ID.

"She said something like, 'Oh, that's not the name I remember seeing on the computer when I looked at it,' and she started spouting off different, other women's names that were not mine," Herrem recalled.

"She rolled her eyes at me and said, 'Are you sure it wasn't your girl name that was on the computer?' … She outed me in front of the whole airplane."

Company has apologized

WestJet has since apologized to Herrem. The company is investigating and also provided her with a credit for her flight.

Outing a transgender person against their will can put them in a dangerous or threatening situation and can have significant impacts on their mental health, according to the Egale Canada Human Rights Trust website, a non-profit group that works to improve the lives of LGBT people.

"Canadians are proud of our country's diversity and inclusion. Minister [Marc] Garneau strongly believes that all passengers must feel safe to be themselves when travelling and is very upset about this incident," Denis said.

.

[Guest]

so are we to conclude that the Positive ID check for all passengers no longer applies?

[Arctic Ace]

"WestJet issued an apology to her, and Herrem said the company told her it would do an internal investigation and implement training for the future."

Apparently Paul Hogan is coming up to conduct the training