Southwest Airlines is starting to have a serious celebrity problem. First there was the time that Kevin Smith got kicked off a flight for being too fat, then there was the time Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong was kicked off a flight for wearing his pants too low and now former L Word actress Leisha Hailey is going around the Internet saying she and her girlfriend were kicked off a flight for kissing each other. We probably shouldn't be too surprised though, considering what we learned this summer about Southwest's racist, sexist pilots.
Hailey brought her story to Twitter yesterday. Here's how she tells it:
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 quickly went into PR mode and last night put out this statement regarding the incident:
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.
Somehow we suspect the truth of what really happened on Flight 2274 was somewhere in-between what the airline and the passenger says, but at this point it is increasingly hard to take anything Southwest says seriously (LGBT website or no). Anyway, if Hailey really wanted to make her displeasure with the airline known she really ought to have pissed her way off the plane à la the pissing Depardieu.
