Very well said.
This really pissed me off. Southwest didn’t piss me off. The actress did. And so did this article.
If you don’t feel like reading it, here’s what basically happened: out actress Leisha Hailey, of “The L-Word” fame, was escorted off a Southwest flight after many passengers complained about the excessive PDA between Hailey and her girlfriend.
First of all, you should know that I am a gay man, so my following thoughts on the issue are in no way bigoted.
As a Southwest employee, or an employee of any airline for that matter, it is your duty to make sure that the flight is enjoyable for every passenger on board that plane. This means that if you are receiving multiple and consistent complaints about a particular passenger or passengers, you’re responsible for confronting said passenger to sort out the problem. If the passenger is able to explain themselves, or if they apologize for and modify their behavior, they are allowed to fly. If, however, the passenger puts up a fight and allows the situation to escalate, you are going to be escorted off, no matter your race, gender, religion…whatever.
Southwest Airlines is an enormous gay rights advocate, and hopefully customers know this. If she’d been kicked off for pecking her girlfriend or holding her hand, that would be one thing. But this was described, by many passengers, as “excessive PDA” which will get you kicked off no matter who you are or who you’re with. If you’re making people uncomfortable, that’s on you. If she had said, “You know what? You’re right and I’m sorry. We went a bit overboard and I understand we made many people uncomfortable, and I’m sorry we didn’t stop when we were asked to,” things would have turned out differently. Instead, she chose to strike up a verbal confrontation with the crew, and was therefore escorted out. This would be the case with ANY person who is not in compliance with airline regulations.
Besides, the plane had reached its destination when the two were confronted. It’s not like they made an emergency landing specifically to get these two out. They didn’t hand them parachute packs and say, “Thanks for flying with us today, now get out.”
This article really makes the airline look bad, especially since it goes on to say “Oh, they kicked these people off for no reason too.” It’s all the same. Billie Joe refused to comply with regulations when passengers felt uncomfortable. Kevin Smith was deemed a COS (customer of size), and it is airline regulation that if you are over a certain weight, it is in your own best interest and in the interest of those around you to purchase a second seat. Regardless of whether a specific employee agrees with this or not, they must comply with regulations, and so must the passenger.
Hailey got all pissy and tweeted, “I have been discriminated against.” No you haven’t, girlfriend. You have been treated as any other Southwest customer would be. You refused to obey the rules, so you were refused service. Sorry.
I don’t mean to offend fans of hers or of the show. She might be a wonderful person, and I’ve heard great things about the show. But this is obnoxious.
So, anyone who’s up in arms about this, please do your research and know the whole story before you call the sky’s largest gay rights advocate homophobic.
(Source: come-flywith-me)
