A Canadian woman says she was outed and humiliated in front of other passengers while flying home to visit her parents.
Lenore Herrem was boarding a WestJet flight from Calgary to Saskatoon on Wednesday (local time) when the airline agent questioned her ID at the gate.
The five-year-old photo on Ms Herrem's Quebec healthcare card was taken when she still presented as male, and the ID's gender marking is also ticked as male.
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She says the agent became "upset and confused" when the ID didn't seem to align with Ms Herrem's feminine appearance, repeatedly saying "They don't match".
"I gently and discreetly 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."
The agent's colleague said it was fine and waved Ms Herrem through to take her seat on the plane.
But she says 10 minutes after she sat down, both gate agents boarded the aircraft and the one who had refused her earlier demanded to see her ID again.
"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," she told CBC.
It was the agent's next comment that Ms Herrem found most humiliating.
"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."
Ms Herrem said the experience made her feel "unsafe, vulnerable and belittled", and that no one else has ever had a problem with her ID.
"It was quite traumatising... especially the way she did it so loudly and in front of everyone, it was really unprofessional."
WestJet has apologised to Ms Herrem and says it is investigating the incident. The airline says in co-operation with Canadian regulations all travellers must carry government-issued photo ID with a gender marker.
"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 says.
"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."
Transgender and gender diverse identities are becoming more accepted in many societies.
In New Zealand, people might soon be able to change the gender listed on their birth certificate with a statutory declaration, rather than by going through the Family Court.
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