This Gay Couple Says They Were Booted to Make Room for Straight Couple

David Cooley's flight aboard Alaska Airlines 1407 from Los Angeles to New York left him in emotional distress after a flight attendant forced his partner to move from permium to economy to make room for a straight couple. 

“After my traveling companion and I had been seated in our assigned seats for a while, we were approached by the flight attendant and my companion was asked to move from his premium seat to coach, so a couple could sit together,” Cooley wrote. “I explained that we were a couple and wanted to sit together. He was given a choice to either give up the premium seat and move to coach or get off the plane.”

Cooley, who owns the WeHo gay bar The Abbey wrote: “I have never been so discriminated against while traveling before."

The couple then decided that they would leave instead of enduring the humiliation throughout the flight.

“I cannot believe that an airline in this day and age would give a straight couple preferential treatment over a gay couple and go so far as to ask us to leave,” he added.

Instead of taking Alaska Airlines home, they instead took Delta Air Lines. “Thank you to Delta Air Lines for getting us home safe,” Cooley wrote. “If you are an #LGBT person, please spend your travel dollars with an LGBT friendly airline like Delta.”

“We are deeply sorry for the situation, and are investigating the details while communicating directly with the guests involved to try and make this right,” an Alaska Airlines spokesperson said. “Alaska Airlines has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind, and our employees value inclusion for our guests and each other.”