> less likely to question you because they don't want to be seen applying a bias

Many people aren't immediately conscious of their biases. This isn't the same situation, but I thought this article about being a black CEO was illuminating. I've seen the similar bias-exposing mistakes happen to women.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/06/16/for-black-ceos-in-sil...

They're easy mistakes to make (I made an similar mistake by assuming a young woman was a nurse and not a doctor), but the most important bit is to learn and be aware.