Tag Archives: Southwest Airlines

GLBT Chamber announces recipients of 2012 Business Excellence Awards

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Rob Wiley P.C.

Rob Wiley

The Law Office of Rob Wiley, Jeremy Bradford, Cooper Smith Koch, Kristopher Parker and Southwest Airlines have been named recipients of the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce 2012 Business Excellence Awards.

The awards will be presented during the eighth annual Business Excellence Awards Dinner: A Tapestry of Business Equality on April 25 at eM The Venue.

“The Awards Review Committee had the nearly impossible task of choosing only six honorees from many excellent nomination; they did an outstanding job,” said Ron Watterson, chairman of the North
Texas GLBT Chamber Board of Directors. “Each year the Chamber awards are said to ‘recognize the best of who we are as business and community leaders.’ I believe that this year’s recipients have defined a new standard of excellence in business and service to the community.”

Here’s more on the recipients:

Continue reading “GLBT Chamber announces recipients of 2012 Business Excellence Awards” »

—  David Taffet

GLBT Chamber hosts Business Expo, a chance to “get away from the elections”

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The North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce expects this evening’s Business Expo at the Melrose to be its largest.

“It’s an opportunity for the community to meet GLBT chamber members and allies,” Chamber President and CEO Tony Vedda said.

He said this year’s event will feature more exhibitors than ever and has expanded beyond just the ballroom into the Oak Lawn Room as well.

A broad spectrum of businesses and organizations will be represented. Community groups like AIDS Arms and C.U.R.E. will have tables. Southwest Airlines and major banks as well as professional services such as attorneys and therapists will be represented.

The event began as a mixer for Chamber members but has grown to an events attended by hundreds, Vedda said.

“Following the election, a large number of people in the community should be in a good mood,” he said. “Thankfully we can get away from the elections now.”

He invited people to come for a cocktail and meet and mingle with some local LGBT businesspeople. Valet parking and the event are free.

Melrose Hotel. Nov. 7. 4:30–7 p.m. Free.

—  David Taffet

Concert Notice (kinda): Leisha Hailey and Camila Grey to perform DJ set at Winstons

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Music-1

Camila Grey and Leisha Hailey of Uh Huh Her

Unless you are a lesbian living under a rock, you know who Leisha Hailey is. And if you don’t she played the character Alice in the Showtime series The L Word. Hailey made national headlines back in September when she and partner/bandmate Camila Grey were kicked off a Southwest Airlines plane for “excessive kissing.” Hailey tweeted about the incident and called for a boycott of the Dallas-based airline.

Since the debacle, Hailey and Grey have been concentrating on their band Uh Huh Her. Hailey and Grey are scheduled to guest DJ at Winstons Supperclub Aug. 19 as part of the Modern Love Tour.

The Modern Love Tour features world renowned DJ’s Kim Anh and Saratonin. The duo started this tour in celebration of this year’s Pride and are slated to travel to cities around the US and Canada. Other high-profile artists on the tour include singers Sia and Austra.

“We are in the age of Modern Love, let’s celebrate that love and celebrate our freedom to be out and proud,” as stated on the website. Hey, we agree.

Early bird tickets are $10 in advance and $20 at the door with meet and greet tickets available for $75. Reminder, this is not an Uh Huh Her concert, but a guest DJ set. We got to see them way back in October as part of the Keep A Breast tour. But this night should be interesting to see how the two dish out music as DJs over creating music as Uh Huh Her.

 

—  admin

The 10 most viewed posts of 2011

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Burke-Burnett

Hate crime victim Burke Burnett

In this coming Friday’s Year in Review issue of Dallas Voice, we’ll recap all of the top news and entertainment stories from 2011. But for now, below are the 10 posts from this year that generated the most page views on DallasVoice.com:

1. Gay man stabbed with broken beer bottle, thrown onto fire in apparent hate crime in Reno, TX

2. Larry and KC Jansson found love in the midst of anti-gay ‘reparative’ therapy

3. LISTEN: Southwest Airlines pilot’s anti-gay, mysoginistic rant over stuck cockpit microphone

4. PIC OF THE DAY: Gov. Rick Perry deep-throats corn dog at the Iowa State Fair

5. Anthony, your wiener isn’t that big a deal

6. WATCH: Rick Perry’s anti-gay Iowa ad

7. An open letter to the Texas A&M Student Senate, signed ‘An Aggie No More’

8. New rumor: Is Rick Perry ex-gay?

9. Southwest Airlines pilot James Taylor of Argyle apologizes for anti-gay, misogynistic rant

10. VIDEO AND TRANSCRIPT: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech today on LGBT rights

—  John Wright

Southwest CEO on lesbian actress’ removal from flight: ‘We’re not trying to dictate social norms’

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Gary Kelly, CEO of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, is standing behind an SWA flight crew’s decision to remove lesbian actress Leisha Hailey and her partner from a plane on Monday after they were observed kissing.

After Hailey, who starred in The L-Word and is a member of the band Uh Huh Her, called for a boycott of the airline on Twitter, SWA released a statement describing the kissing as “excessive.”

Hailey responded with a statement saying it was “one, modest kiss,” before the airline issued a follow-up saying the couple was removed from the flight during a stop in El Paso due to their “aggressive reaction,” including loud use of “profane language.”

Hailey’s publicist tells Instant Tea that the actress isn’t doing interviews about the incident, but Kelly (pictured) discussed it with The Houston Chronicle on Wednesday.

“We’re not trying to dictate social norms,” Kelly told the Chronicle. “Any of us have boundaries that we think people should behave within. …

“I think our people try very hard to accommodate the needs and the wishes of our customers, and they make judgments of what is appropriate and what is not appropriate,” Kelly said. “In all cases, we do the best we can to take care of our customers and if we can’t get them where they need to go, obviously we’re apologetic for that. … 

“It’s very difficult to script out exactly how one should deal with any particular circumstance.”

—  John Wright

WATCH: Local LGBTs Patti Fink, Pete Schulte weigh in on Leisha Hailey controversy

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Are you tired of hearing about Leisha Hailey yet? Too bad.

The CW 33 aired a piece last night about the saga involving The L Word star’s removal from a Southwest Airlines flight, and the station spoke to two prominent members of the local LGBT community: Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance President Patti Fink and attorney Peter Schulte.

Fink appears to be leaning toward Hailey’s corner, while Schulte is taking a measured legal approach. I wonder how he’d feel if Hailey and her girlfriend had just been trying to get a gay divorce?

Here’s an excerpt from The CW’s story, which you can watch below:

“I don’t think it could have been excessive. And if in fact it was excessive, I’d like to see straight people thrown off the plane for the same reason,” Fink said.

Southwest says it wasn’t the kissing. The airline claims the couple started cursing loudly after the flight attendant spoke to them and that’s when they were removed.

Attorney Peter Schulte says if this was the case, Southwest acted appropriately.

“There are rules and there are laws that allow the crew who is there for their safety, for the passenger’s safety to take action to try to limit any disruption”, Schulte said.

Hailey has called for a boycott of the airline, but Schulte says she has no legal recourse.

“If there was a race or gender issue those are protected classes, but in this day and age there isn’t any protection because of someone’s sexual orientation”, Schulte said.

Southwest has prided itself as gay friendly and has an outreach program to the gay community.

The gay community is hoping this can be resolved amicably.

“I would hope they would be able to talk it out and come to some sort of conclusion,” Fink said

Continue reading “WATCH: Local LGBTs Patti Fink, Pete Schulte weigh in on Leisha Hailey controversy” »

—  John Wright

Southwest issues follow-up statement on Leisha Hailey incident

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The Internet is out at the house (screw you, AT&T), so I’m attempting to post this from my phone (wish me luck). Below is a follow-up statement from Southwest Airlines regarding Monday’s incident involving Leisha Hailey. Note that the statement says the incident occurred in El Paso, as opposed to St. Louis, as previously reported. I can’t post the link here, but what is it about El Paso and same-sex kissing? Anyhow below is the statement. I’ll try to get more when I’m back on the grid in the a.m.

Updated Information Regarding Customers Removed from Flight 2274

Additional reports from our Employees and Customers onboard flight 2274 during a stop in El Paso on Sunday now 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. Although we have reports of what Customers characterize as an excessive public display of affection, ultimately their aggressive reaction led to their removal from the aircraft. We do not tolerate discrimination against anyone for any reason. In this situation, their removal was directly and solely related to the escalated conversation that developed onboard the aircraft.

Our tenets of inclusion and celebration of diversity among our Customers and Employees—including those in the LGBT communities—anchor our Culture of mutual respect and following the Golden Rule. The more than 100 million people who fly Southwest each year reflect the great diversity of our country and our Company — and ALL are valued and welcome. In fact, we’ve been recognized as a leader in diversity throughout our 40 years of service.

Our Customer Advocacy Team reached out to extend goodwill and a full refund for an experience that fell short of the passengers’ expectation.

—  John Wright

Leisha Hailey issues statement on Southwest Airlines incident, denies kissing was ‘excessive’

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Leisha Hailey

Moments after I posted the item below, the following statement about Monday’s incident came across from Leisha Hailey and her girlfriend, Camila Grey:

“We have always promoted tolerance, openness and equality both as a band and as individuals. We both come from loving homes where our parents not only love and accept us, but are also proud of who we are. We believe everyone has the right to live openly in this society as equals. 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. We are responsible adult women who walk through the world with dignity. We were simply being affectionate like any normal couple. We were on the airplane less than 5 minutes when all was said and done. We take full responsibility for getting verbally upset with the flight attendant after being told it was a ‘family airline.’ We were never told the reason the flight attendant approached us, we were only scolded that we ‘needed to be aware that Southwest Airlines was a family oriented airline.’ No matter how quietly homophobia is whispered, it doesn’t make it any less loud. 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. We want to live in a society where if your loved one leans over to give you an innocent kiss on an airplane it’s not labeled as ‘excessive or not family oriented’ by a corporation and it’s employees. 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 above is not an apology and we are in the process of filing a formal complaint with the airline. We hope that when all is said and done a greater tolerance without prejudice will evolve.”

—  John Wright

Is it time to boycott Southwest?

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It’s been nearly 24 hours since lesbian actress and musician Leisha Hailey alleged on Twitter that she’d been kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight for kissing her girlfriend. But we still haven’t heard anything more about the incident from Hailey, whose spokeswoman isn’t responding to media inquiries.

The Associated Press reports today that the kissing took place aboard a flight from Baltimore to St. Louis, and Hailey and her partner were kicked off the plane after it landed. According to the airline’s statement, that’s when a discussion “escalated to a level that was better resolved on the ground.” The airline characterized the kissing as “excessive” and said there were “several complaints” from passengers about it.

According to an itinerary for the flight, after St. Louis it was headed to Dallas Love Field, then El Paso and Los Angeles, but it’s unclear where Hailey planned to disembark. Hailey, who starred in Showtime’s The L Word and is a member of the band Uh Huh Her, reportedly is set to begin a 21-city tour to promote breast cancer awareness.

Hailey called for a boycott of Southwest on Twitter after the incident, but the National Gay Pilots Association isn’t ready to go along with that.

“The National Gay Pilots Association (NGPA) opposes any premature boycott measures against Southwest Airlines until we hear all sides,” the group said in a statement released today. “Southwest Airlines has strict non-discrimination policies in place and is actively working with NGPA and other gay rights organizations to further enhance their policies and employee training. We still expect SWA to send a clear signal to all its employees that such behavior cannot be tolerated (especially when it comes to definition of family), should the accusations be true.”

As the AP story points out, Hailey isn’t the first celebrity to be kicked off a Southwest flight in the last few years. And as we noted yesterday, this isn’t the first gay-related controversy the airline has faced in recent months.

Southwest received a score of 95 percent on the Human Rights Campaign’s most recent Corporate Equality Index, and it happens to be the official airline of GLAAD. (Check out the GLBT Outreach section of Southwest’s website here.) Another factor for those of us in Dallas: SWA essentially flies out of the gayborhood. 

So what do you think, is it time to boycott Southwest? Who knows, perhaps the below cartoon about Monday’s incident from Taiwan’s Next Media Animation will help you decide.

Continue reading “Is it time to boycott Southwest?” »

—  John Wright

UPDATED: Southwest Airlines statement on incident involving ‘L-Word’ actress Leisha Hailey

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Leisha Hailey appeared in the ‘L-Word’ and is a member of the band Uh Huh Her.

Looks like Dallas-based Southwest Airlines could have another big gay controversy on its hands.

Months after a pilot’s anti-gay rant was broadcast over a stuck cockpit microphone, L-Word actress Leisha Hailey (also a lesbian in real life) is alleging on Twitter she was booted from an SWA flight after — GASP! — kissing her partner.

We’re waiting to hear back from Southwest — and working to get in touch with Hailey — but for now, below are her tweets about the incident.

UPDATE, 5:30 p.m.: Southwest has posted a statement on its website about the incident, which occurred aboard Flight 2274. Southwest’s statement reads: “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. 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.”

UPDATE, 5:52 p.m.: Those who’ve expressed support for Hailey include fellow gay musician Adam Lambert, who tweeted, “News: kissing is NOT indecent behavior. No matter what sex u are. So if two of the same sex are sweetly kissing, get over it!”

—  John Wright