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Leisha Hailey Insists Kiss Was ‘Modest,’ Southwest Airlines Is Homophobic

Feud continues in the press, both parties deny any wrongdoing on their part

Sep 28, 2011 20:01 GMT  ·  By
Leisha Hailey and girlfriend insist Southwest Airlines kicked them off flight for being gay
   Leisha Hailey and girlfriend insist Southwest Airlines kicked them off flight for being gay

Actress Leisha Hailey and her girlfriend were asked to leave a Southwest Airlines flight after reportedly kissing on board and offending the other customers. In a new statement, the star sets the record straight on the kiss that started it all.

As we also informed you the other day, after being told to get off the plane, Hailey took to her Twitter to say she’d been discriminated again for being gay.

A statement from the airline company said that she was asked to leave not because she was gay but because she had engaged in “excessive” PDA with her girlfriend, and the flight attendant deemed such behavior inappropriate.

However, Hailey will not let it rest, especially since she’s convinced that Southwest is blowing things out of proportion only to hide the fact that they have homophobic staff.

“In no way were our actions on Southwest Airlines excessive, inappropriate or vulgar. 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 two say in a joint statement cited by TMZ.

However, they do own up to reacting badly to being told that “this was a family airline” and getting into a loud argument with the flight attendant.

“We take full responsibility for getting verbally upset with the flight attendant after being told it was a ‘family airline’,” the statement says.

“We find it very disturbing that the same airline who lauds itself as being LGBT friendly has twisted an upsetting incident that happened into our behavior being ‘too excessive’,” the two continue, adding that they plan to file a formal complaint.

In light of their new statement, Southwest has changed its tune a bit, saying now that the women were escorted off the plane for being loud and vulgar in their argument with the flight attendant, and not because they kissed.

“Additional reports […] confirm profane language was being used loudly by two passengers. At least one family who was offended by the loud profanity moved to another area of the cabin,” Southwest says in a new statement cited by AceShowbiz.