"L-Word" Star Allegedly Kicked Off Flight In St. Louis for Same-Sex Kiss

Sep 27, 2011 at 11:15 am
click to enlarge Leish Hailey was not laughing yesterday at Lambert Field. - Twitter
Twitter
Leish Hailey was not laughing yesterday at Lambert Field.
Update 3 p.m. Leisha Hailey and her girlfriend, Camila Grey, released a statement today saying that they "were not making out" or creating any spectacle. "It was one modest kiss." The couple plans to file a formal complaint with the airplane.

Original story follows...

Leisha Hailey, star of Showtime's lesbian drama "The L Word," has declared war on Southwest Airlines.

The actress says she was on a flight from Baltimore to St. Louis yesterday when a Southwest flight attendant scolded her about kissing her girlfriend. Around 2 p.m. Monday, Hailey tweeted that she was "discriminated against" when the flight attendant told her that Southwest was a "family airline." Hailey is now using Twitter to urge gays to boycott Southwest Airlines.

Hailey was escorted off the plane when it landed in St. Louis. It's unclear where the flight was headed after St. Louis.

Meanwhile, the airline has also entered the fray via Twitter, saying in a statement that several passengers complained about Hailey and her g'friend engaging in excessive behavior.

Southwest boasts that it's the official airline of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

"Our crew, responsible for the comfort of all customers on board, approached the passengers based solely on behavior and not gender," said Southwest in its statement regarding Hailey's allegations. "The conversation escalated to a level that was better resolved on the ground, as opposed to in flight."

Hailey is at least the third celebrity removed from the budget carrier in the past eighteen months. Earlier this month Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong was booted from a Southwest flight for wearing saggy pants. In 2010 actor/director Kevin Smith (Clerks) said he was kicked off a flight for being "too fat."