Strange news out of Sydney where Jetstar Airlines baggage handlers are accused of covering a passenger’s luggage with stickers to spell out the phrase “I AM GAY”. The victim wrote about the experience in his blog:
My suitcase was the first bag on the carousel. The entire flight’s passengers were shoulder-to-shoulder looking for their bags and I’m pretty sure that most people would’ve seen mine rattling along the rollers. I saw a big red case approaching and excused my way through the throng in order to retrieve it. I noticed some white bits on the side and turned back, apologising to the people who I had just pushed passed. “False alarm,” I said to one gent. Then I realised that it actually was my bag and that the white bits were the sign you see in the image above. I plucked the suitcase off the carousel and had many eyes look me up and down. I was taken aback by the slogan but thought I had thick enough skin to ignore the leering. My connecting flight was about to board so I had to speed through the terminal to check in with Qantas. As I dragged the case through the terminal, I looked back at the people I had passed and they too looked at me differently. My luggage was a scarlet letter. I am a white heterosexual male. This trifecta of privilege means that I’m not routinely subjected to prejudice. But for a few minutes I got to walk in the shoes of a gay person in a public place. For no good reason I had had a slur marked over my luggage. I was degraded. I was shamed. I was humiliated. For me, this was only a few minutes of one day of my life. If what I felt for those few minutes is extrapolated out every day over a lifetime, then I can fully understand why our gay friends feel persecuted and why they have such high rates of suicide. It is unacceptable. It is said that words can’t hurt you. That it is true. But it isn’t the words that hurt, it’s the intention behind them. “I am gay” was not emblazened across my luggage as a celebration. It was used as a pejorative. It was used to humiliate. It was used as a slur.
Check out the rest of his entry here.
OK, a little bit of lighter news from down under…
Melbourne Airport locked down after kangaroo surprises passengers in terminal
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