hahahaha that's very reasonable request. Where I am from, we believe in dating someone who’s our equal( people could argue this is bad) but so far, I've seen it's easier to date someone who's on the same level as you are.

Over here, before anyone get married, they have to undergo a pre-marital screening, so it's given and pretty basic these days as that's how they could go with their marriage registration. You were definitely being gaslighted but guess different culture, different expectations :D