United Airlines just made booking easier for trans and non-binary customers
Something as simple as booking a flight can be painful if you identify as trans.
On Tuesday, United Airlines announced that they would be changing their booking options to be more trans-inclusive. Instead of forcing their customers to choose between male or female as gender options when booking, customers can now also select U (undisclosed) or X (unspecified), corresponding with whatever it says on their identification. Customers can also select "Mx." in lieu of Ms., Mrs., or Mr. when booking and in their customer profiles.
"United is determined to lead the industry in LGBT inclusivity, and we are so proud to be the first U.S. airline to offer these inclusive booking options for our customers," United's Chief Customer Officer Toby Enqvist said in a press release.
United partnered with the Trevor Project, a nonprofit that provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to LGBTQ individuals, as well as the Human Rights Campaign, one of the largest LGTBQ nonprofits in the country, to devise the program. Company employees also learned about preferred pronouns and how to create a more trans-inclusive workplace.
United Airlines' shift comes after a series of embarrassing incidents for the company, including a customer who was dragged off an airplane to make room for an employee who wanted to fly and a dog who was killed after a flight attendant stuffed his carrier into an overhead bin.
This latest move from United is a small step forward in an industry that still has so far to go.
Heather was the Web Trends reporter at Mashable NYC. Prior to joining Mashable, Heather wrote regularly for UPROXX and GOOD Magazine, was published in The Daily Dot and VICE, and had her work featured in Entertainment Weekly, Jezebel, Mic, and Gawker. She loves small terrible dogs and responsible driving. Follow her on Twitter @wear_a_helmet.
