Pride Month 2022: Vistara, AirAsia India add gender-neutral ‘MX’ for ticket booking

During the pride month of 2022, Indian airlines Vistara and AirAsia India started offering gender-neutral terms in ticket form after the petition by Indrajeet Ghorpade of the LGBTQ+ community.

Image for representation

During pride month 2022, the LGBTQ+ community has found allies in the form of Indian airlines named Vistara and AirAsia India. These airlines will now allow a gender-neutral method of booking tickets. Based on the reports of The Week, the airlines will now use gender-neutral terms in their ticket booking forms. The introduction of the new move by the airlines comes as a result of the petition signed by thousands of people to bring about the change. It is to be mentioned that both the aforementioned airlines operate under the Tata Group.

Both Vistara and AirAsia India will now have the title 'Mx' in their ticket booking forms. The gender-neutral term is supposed to support the members of the LGBTQ+ community who identify as non-binary or trans.

The series of incidents to get the gender-neutral term in the ticket booking system started when Indrajeet Ghorpade, a member of the LGBTQ+ group by the name 'YesWeExist', began an online petition form on Change.org for the aforementioned change in the ticket booking form. The petition demanded the use of an option Mx in the ticket booking forms apart from the conventional Mr and Ms options.

Based on The Week's report, according to Ghorpade, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 prohibits airlines from discriminating. However, until recently, no airline booking forms had the gender-neutral designation 'Mx,' which many LGBTQ people prefer. Passengers who utilise the letter 'Mx' have been compelled to choose an incorrect title for themselves, such as 'Mr,' 'Mrs,' or 'Ms,' in order to book a ticket.

Ghorpode's petition, which was addressed to the nodal offices of Indian-based airlines, received more than 30,000 signatures. He also sent emails on behalf of the community to the officers, but just a few of them responded. However, now two airlines have come forward to fulfil the petition's demands and in support of the cause and more are expected to follow.