'The L Word' Star Leisha Hailey Kicked Off Southwest Plane for Kissing Girlfriend
by Richard Sharp
Leisha Hailey, an actress on the popular Showtime series "The L Word" was reportedly escorted off a Southwest Airlines plane after passengers complained about her kissing her girlfriend and bandmate Camila Grey during a flight to St. Louis. Hailey and Grey play together in the band Uh Huh Her.
When the actress protested, she was escorted off the plane.
Hailey has since turned to Twitter to release a series of message about the incident, urging a boycott of the airline:
"I have been discriminated against by @SouthwestAir. Flt. attendant said that it was a "family" airline and kissing was not ok."
"We were escorted off the plane for getting upset about the issue. @SouthwestAir endorses homophobic employees. No one made her accountable."
"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."
Southwest Airlines Co. responded on its website in a statement, claiming the incident was based on the "excessive" nature of the couple's public display of affection rather than their sexuality.
"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," said Southwest reps.
"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 expectation," said the airline.
So was this just a case of PDA gone awry, or a homophobic and overzealous airline attendant engaging in discrimination? Sounds like we may find out soon enough. Hailey claims to have recordings of the incident.
"Did I mention to @SouthwestAir that I have a lot of their actions recorded on audio and video? RT #boycottSouthwest #discrimination" said the actress on Twitter.