A 23-year-old Halifax woman has two days to prove she is who she says she is.

On April 13, Storm Paradise received a notification from Facebook's administrators asking for some form of documentation to prove the name on her profile matches the one she uses in real life.

Though Paradise has publicly gone by Storm since she was 16 years old, the transgender woman doesn't have any identification to show it: all her IDs match the male name on her birth certificate.

"It's like being asked to prove that you exist," said Paradise.

Paradise doesn't think she will be able to provide identification in time to authenticate her profile. What's more, she doesn't think she should have to.

"I'm angry. I feel it's a form of discrimination against transgender people," she said.

Changing policy

When contacted by CBC, a spokesperson for Facebook referred to a June 2015 blog post by Justin Osofsky, the company's vice-president of global operations, and Monika Bickert, head of global product policy, that announced a series of changes to the social media organization's name policy.

It said Facebook would no longer ask users to provide their legal names. Instead, it now asks people to use their "authentic names" — the ones they go by every day. Facebook also included an expanded list of identification options, including library cards and pieces of mail.

By using real names, according to the blog post, users are responsible for what they say.

The move was also meant to protect users from "dangerous interactions, like when an abusive ex-boyfriend impersonates a friend to harass his ex-girlfriend, or a high school bully uses a fake name to post hateful comments about a gay classmate."

Users whose preferred names are flagged have seven days to provide two pieces of identification and validate their accounts.

"The authentic name requirement has defined and distinguished our service from its earliest days," the post said. "We firmly believe in and are committed to our authentic name policy."

Paradise hopes she won't lose contact with her social circle. (Facebook)

But Paradise calls the move "cis sexism" and says she worries that if her Facebook account is shut down, she would lose touch with friends, family and colleagues.

"Facebook is huge and powerful," she said. "It feels a little bit like David and Goliath."

'A global issue'

A Brooklyn, New York-based drag queen and organizer who goes by the name Lil Miss Hot Mess played a consultative role in Facebook's 2015 policy changes.

She and a group of fellow drag queens won their own battles to keep their Facebook accounts active a year earlier.

Now the organizer of a campaign called MyNameIs, Lil Miss Hot Mess advocates for thousands of transgender individuals, victims of sexual violence and bullying, and members of religious and cultural minorities forced to prove the legitimacy of their own names.

"It's a global issue," she told CBC News.

New York-based Lil Miss Hot Mess, shown at a protest at Facebook's headquarters in June 2015, says many transgender people are victims of 'petty everyday humiliation.' (Courtesy of Gareth Gooch)

Lil Miss Hot Mess calls the expanded list of ID options "disingenuous." Many people, she says, still use their legal names for mail and bus passes, even if it don't use those names socially.

She says tools like Facebook can be invaluable to connect marginalized people and groups:

"Facebook is such an important platform for connecting with people who are like you and finding resources, especially for communities who are otherwise vulnerable or face violence."

One 'hoop' too many

Paradise, already an advocate for transgender issues, says she will consult members of the local LGBTQ community to discuss further action. But she doesn't know if the issue will fall high on priority lists.

"Being transgender means fear of arbitrary, hateful violence based on your gender," she said. "Things like everyday violence, being scared to walk around at night dressed the way I like. But it also includes a lot of petty everyday humiliation, and having to jump through stupid hoops like this."

Paradise says, however, that eliminating some of those "hoops" could go a long way.

"I think one of the best ways to directly combat social isolation and prejudice against trans people, is simply to treat us with respect: to call us by the names we chose, to use the correct pronouns," she said.

"And none of that should be too difficult, either for an individual or an institution."