While actress Leisha Hailey should be getting some attention for her upcoming album as part of indie duo Uh Huh Her (which is being produced by Wendy Melvoin of Wendy & Lisa fame), it looks like she's garnered the wrong kind of attention. The L Word actress says she was thrown off Southwest Airlines for kissing her girlfriend.
Hours ago the actress/musician went on a Twitter rampage after the unfortunate incident, to which the airline says they kicked her off after patrons complained that she was continuously affectionate with her girlfriend on the flight.
“I have been discriminated against by @SouthwestAir. Flt. attendant said it was a ‘family’ airline and kissing was not ok,” she writes.
“Since when is showing affection towards someone you love illegal?” asks Hailey. “I want to know what Southwest Airlines considers a ‘family.’”
She continues, “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.”
Hailey explains, ”We were escorted off the plane for getting upset about the issue. @SouthwestAir endorses homophobic employees. No one made her accountable.”
“This is an outrage,” she says. “I demand a public apology by @SouthwestAir and a refund. Hate is not a family value. I will never fly this airline.”
Leisha isn't the only celebrity to be discriminated against. In a totally different incident, Out singer Ari Gold was harassed by a Shortline Bus driver who said he was uncomfortable that Ari was holding hands with his boyfriend in the front row. That driver has since been disciplined and they have issued mandatory anti-discrimination training for all their drivers. As for the morons at Southwest Airlines, they've released a follow-up statement:
"Initial reports indicate that we received several passenger complaints characterizing the behavior as excessive."
The statement continues, "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."
Still, SWA notes, "We are ready to work directly with the passengers involved to offer our heartfelt apologies for falling short of their expectation."
This is also not the first time we've been hearing Southwest Airlines has been in the middle of some controversy. Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong tweeted a few weeks ago that he was kicked off the airline for his pants being too low. Also if I'm not mistaken, a SWA pilot was suspended for going on an anti-gay rant that later leaked all over the internet. I also believe director Kevin Smith was kicked off the same flight for being too fat. So clearly the airline is filled with equal opportunity offenders who need to clean up their act very soon, or else there won't be anyone riding their airline for them to assault. Or better yet why don't we get Gerard Depardieu to ride the flight? We definitely need someone to piss on those assholes and teach them a thing or three about respectable customer service.
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