Airline removes actress Leisha Hailey over gay kiss? Southwest claims excessive “behavior”
The Twitter feed for Leisha Hailey became of note today when The L Word tweeted that she had been kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight for kissing her partner.
UPDATE: Hailey and Uh Huh Her have released an official statement.
She said that a flight attendant claimed it was a “family” airline — “family” being a term that’s often used to ostracize the LGBT community. She called the action an “outrage” and said she’d never fly the airline again. She then called on gay passengers to boycott Southwest, saying “They don’t like us.” Her tweets offered few details otherwise (Twitter/Leisha_Hailey).
”I have been discriminated against by @SouthwestAir. Flt. attendant said that it was a ‘family’ airline and kissing was not ok.”
”This is an outrage. I demand a public apology by @SouthwestAir and a refund. Hate is not a family value. I will never fly this airline.”
”We were escorted off the plane for getting upset about the issue. @SouthwestAir endorses homophobic employees. No one made her accountable.”
”Since when is showing affection towards someone you love illegal? I want to know what Southwest Airlines considers as ‘family’.”
”I know plenty of wonderful same sex families I would like to introduce them to. Boycott @SouthwestAir if you are gay. They don’t like us.”
”Did I mention to @SouthwestAir that I have a lot of their actions recorded on audio and video? RT #boycottSouthwest”
Southwest’s website does include a section for “GLBT Outreach” which notes that it is the “official airline” of gay organizations like GLAAD.
A post on Southwest Airlines’ blog makes remarks about an incident on Flight 2274, claiming that crew approached “passengers” regarding “behavior … not gender.” It’s not directly clear yet if that post references complaints made by Hailey and her fans (BlogSouthwest):
”Initial reports indicate that we received several passenger complaints characterizing the behavior as excessive. Our crew, responsible for the comfort of all Customers on board, approached the passengers based solely on behavior and not gender. The conversation escalated to a level that was better resolved on the ground, as opposed to in flight. We regret any circumstance where a passenger does not have a positive experience on Southwest and we are ready to work directly with the passengers involved to offer our heartfelt apologies for falling short of their expectations.”
Hailey is also part of the electro-rock band Uh Huh Her and is scheduled to appear in D.C. at the 9:30 Club on Oct. 12, 2011.
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