Leisha Hailey was kicked off plane for lesbian kiss

[EnderD_503]

I agree what with some posters have said about the report on this being really fucking vague. It all comes down to what the airline considers "excessive" and what the couple was actually doing. What is "excessive," and, like the OP said, is "excessive" the same for heterosexual and queer couples?

The way I read the article in the OP, it makes me think that both sides were "right" to some extent. I didn't know who Leisha Hailey was until I read the article (I've never watched the L Word, really), but once I saw she was a celebrity of some sort it made me question her testimony more than I would of had they been a non-celebrity couple. Celebrities often seem to be really attention-grabbing, anything for the headlines type of people. It wouldn't be totally surprising, to me anyway, for a celebrity to think the rules didn't apply to them and then scream discrimination when someone subjects them to the same rules as everyone else (Paris Hilton and her drunk driving, celebrities in rehab, celebrities generally behaving horribly in public and expecting that the law exempt them from equal treatment). This "above the law" mentality isn't uncommon.

That being said, I also think there was more than likely a rather big tinge of homophobia going on with passengers reporting these supposedly "excessive" (again, wtf is excessive?) activities. I'm originally from Ontario, but have frequently in another province and even out of Canada for various periods of time. Because of that, I've spent a fair amount of time on planes and during that time I've been annoyed a number of times by heterosexual couples deciding to have a heavily gropey make-out session two centimetres from my face while waiting in line to get off the plane. That seems to be their usual chosen spot for said make-out sessions. Besides people rolling their eyes or looking away, no one has said shit and the flight attendants didn't say shit either...and really there's no reason to. Granted, they were never an American airline (and Europeans tend to view public displays of affection differently), but still, I've never heard of heterosexuals being kicked off planes for public displays of affection (when did we start abbreviating that, btw?).

That said, it seems like the actress made a gigantic scene after the flight attendants approached her, which probably didn't help matters. Imo, there's a difference between silencing yourself/not being heard when you're being discriminated against, and waiting for a time/place where you will actually be properly heard and make a difference (for example, waiting until they were in a position to make a formal complaint or take it to court). I don't think making a scene on a flight waiting to take off was conducive to getting her point across that this was more than likely a case of homophobia.

So yeah, I think it was definitely a homophobic call simply because it seems that heterosexual aren't held up to the same standard of what is "excessive" or not on airlines (and in society, for that matter). Even if this couple was being excessive, why were they called out if heterosexual couples are not? The rules need to apply to everyone if they're going to be there at all. It just shows prevailing public mentality of homosexuality being more "perverse" by its very nature than heterosexuality.

[SoNotHer]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503;426181... but still, I've never heard of heterosexuals being [U

kicked off[/U] planes for public displays of affection (when did we start abbreviating that, btw?).

Agreed, and therein lies the problem, regardless of the bad behavior on either side.

And yes, EnderD, I would have thought a PDA was a variation of a PDF before I read this thread . :-)

[LeftWriteFemme]

Can I say one phrase..........the mile high club. Straight people don't get thrown off planes enough to discourage membership.......my 2 cents

[Apocalipstic]

Originally Posted by LeftWriteFemme

Can I say one phrase..........the mile high club. Straight people don't get thrown off planes enough to discourage membership.......my 2 cents

Though, with speck sized bathrooms on planes these days, I think most mile high stories may be anecdotal.

[Janny]

Come on. You know the airlines are nickeling and diming us for everything. If you don't pay your $50.00 Lesbian Fee...you're off the plane! ;^)

[EnderD_503]

Ok, so I was reading Metro on the way to school this morning and saw an article about this where they give a little more info. I suck at the Metro website so I'll just type up the article, it's short anyways.

Kicked off for Smooching
-> L Word actress says she was removed from plane for kissing partner

The publicist for a lesbian actress and musician who says she was escorted off a flight for "one modest kiss" of her partner says the encounter was not a stunt for her band's upcoming breast cancer awareness tour.

Leisha Hailey, best known for playing Alice Pieszecki in the now defunct Showtime lesbian life drama The L Word, asked her Twitter followers to boycott Southwest Airlines after the encounter Monday.

The airline responded that Hailey's display of affection was excessive and drew customer complaints.

The actress and her partner, Camila Grey, denied in a statement released yesterday that the affection they showed toward each other was inappropriate.

"We want to make it clear we were not making out or creating any kind of spectacle of ourselves, it was one modest kiss," the written statement said.

Hailey and Grey acknowledge they became upset after the flight attendant reprimanded them. They said the attendant told them that Southwest is a "family airline."

"No matter how quietly homophobia is whispered, it doesn't make it any less loud," the statement said. "You can't whisper hate. We ask this airline to teach their employees to not discriminate against any couple, ever, regardless of their own beliefs."

Hailey and Grey said they plan to file a formal complaint with the airline."

More and more I'm inclined to agree with her... that this was moreso a case of homophobia than excessive public displays of affection (and again, nobody seems to be going into detail except for Hailey herself who says it was one kiss...if that isn't the case, then why isn't anyone saying anything to the contrary beyond "the customers said it was excessive." If it was excessive, then they should be able to say what exactly happened, if it caught their attention so much.

[Quintease]

This was the same airline which kicked off a man for wearing baggy pants?

Clearly lesbians and scruffy men aren't the kind of custom they want in their plane, so why not get a bad name for themselves as judgemental idiots to attract the 'right' kind of customer..

Sometimes when people have an idea of how things are, they don't notice when their ideas are flawed. Gayers are sexualised just by existing, therefore, when we hold hands, kiss or have a snog fest, it is much more obvious to these small-minded 'family' oriented bigots than any heterosexual shenanigans.

I hope enough people see the wrong in this to damage their profits.

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by Quintease

This was the same airline which kicked off a man for wearing baggy pants?

Haha, yeah I think so. Heaven forbid you sag your pants on a fucking airplane.

Originally Posted by Quintease

Gayers are sexualised just by existing, therefore, when we hold hands, kiss or have a snog fest, it is much more obvious to these small-minded 'family' oriented bigots than any heterosexual shenanigans.

Gayers?

But yeah, that's pretty much it, I think. If you think about it, who are the public more likely to notice giving each other a "modest kiss," Joe and Jane Hetero, or two gay dudes or two lesbians. They are used to hetero couples showing each other affection in public, because it's something you expect of a "proper family unit," so they don't notice it, or see it as "normal." Hell, kids see it on Disney all the fucking time. But when it comes to queers they still haven't quite gotten Freud's "homosexuals be perverts" crap out of their heads yet (gee, they're slow on the uptake...) and so don't see queers as any other couple sharing a kiss in public. Instead they see...zomg ze deviantz be corrupting ze childrenz!

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Quintease

This was the same airline which kicked off a man for wearing baggy pants?

Clearly lesbians and scruffy men aren't the kind of custom they want in their plane, so why not get a bad name for themselves as judgemental idiots to attract the 'right' kind of customer..

Sometimes when people have an idea of how things are, they don't notice when their ideas are flawed. Gayers are sexualised just by existing, therefore, when we hold hands, kiss or have a snog fest, it is much more obvious to these small-minded 'family' oriented bigots than any heterosexual shenanigans.

I hope enough people see the wrong in this to damage their profits.

That guy was Billie Joe Armstrong, of Green Day.

Maybe they just hate celebrities?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_947397.html