“the seat change request rather than to sit next to the same gender is instead to sit away from a cranky child, sit next to a family member seated elsewhere or to sit closer to the exit to quicker catch a connecting flight.”
I’ve requested at times to switch seats so that my family can sit together. Sometimes the person has agreed and there have been times that the person has refused. It is extremely upsetting when the person refuses to switch, but I have never, and I would never made them feel bad about it. I obviously have never made a scene about it.
I don’t think anyone here is offended by the request to switch, even if it is for religious reasons. I think that people get upset when religious people forget to have derech eretz when making these requests, and when they seem to be demanding rather than requesting.