Brody's Notes... San Diego Gay Couple Felt Bullied By Airline Manager In Denver

United Airlines Jet Taking Off From Denver International

By Brody Levesque | DENVER, COLORADO -- A San Diego gay couple returning home from celebrating Thanksgiving tells LGBTQNation that they were confronted by a situation which one of them describes as being bullied and having to suffer use of an anti-gay epithet directed at them. Billy Canu, speaking on behalf of himself and his partner, said that they had approached the United Airlines customer service area asking for access to the Gold and United Club members lounge at Denver International Airport as they were awaiting their return flight home to San Diego Saturday evening.

Canu told LGBTQNation Monday in a phone interview that the attitude of the staff was patronising and when his partner questioned the airline personnel's treatment of their concerns, the situation became tense rather quickly.

Canu verified to LGBTQNation the account he had written on his Facebook page Sunday upon the couple's return to San Diego:

We went to customer service and the line was empty. My partner and walked to the front of the rope and stood there waiting, there were four staff behind the desk (1 male, 3 female) and one male stood beside them. We were initially ignored as all five were chatting to each other. One was reading a magazine on hair and nails. The gentleman at the side of the desk beckoned us over, yet still we were ignored. The four staff started laughing with each other as to who was going to help, pointing to each other. One woman said 'I can't help as I'm pregnant' and laughed at us. A lady (whose name we did not take) then proceeded to 'help' We asked what the difference was with the Gold access to the lounges, but she could not help. She simply told us that Gold access was for international only as 'those tickets cost more' in a very condescending tone.

Eventually the gentleman to the side of the desk explained the difference, that there are open wide access Gold lounges and United members clubs. What we had tried to enter was a members club. The lady who served us went back to reading her magazine and I apologized for interrupting her magazine reading and explained she was rude. She looked up, again with a condescending attitude and said 'Im soooo sorry'

My partner then backed up my cause explaining how rude she was, again we were met with 'Im so sorry' This wasn't an apology, but a mere attempt at belittling us. The conversation got heated and then Rodney Hill, the 'manager' appeared.

Canu told LGBTQNation that it was at this point both he and his partner felt intimidated as the UAL manager, Rodney Hill, warned the couple that he had the power to not only remove them from their flight, but have them escorted off the airport property or face arrest by Denver law enforcement. Canu acknowledged that the situation had become very confrontational at this point.

Rather than escalate the incident Canu said, he and his partner walked away from the airline's service desk, but said that Hill followed them a short distance down the concourse continuing to threaten the couple with removal from the airport. According to Canu, Hill also shouted at them, calling them idiots at which point, Canu's partner, angered at the ongoing tirade turned on Hill and shouted back 'what was that?' Canu said that Hill responded with 'What faggots?' in what appeared to Canu to be a threatening posture and then he returned to the service desk.

Canu told LGBTQNation that both he and his partner felt bullied and scared by the incident and felt that Hill's reaction was rather inappropriate. Canu said that the entire incident happened very quickly and was not a drawn out ordeal although he did say that he did return alone to the service desk to get Hill's full name and a way to contact Hill's immediate superior at which point Canu said that Hill snapped at him that he could contact whomever he wished on the airlines's website to make a complaint. Canu said that he did so upon the couple's return on Sunday just prior to posting about the incident on his Facebook page.

Canu told LGBTQNation that as of Monday morning, neither he nor his partner had been contacted by the airline. Canu, a Denver native, said that he had spoken with local Denver ABCNews affiliate, ABC7 on Sunday, about the incident Saturday evening at DIA. ABC7 news contacted United Airlines about the couple's complaint and was told:

“United does not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” said airline spokeswoman Megan McCarthy. "We have received this complaint and are reviewing, and we will reach out to the customer directly."

In an e-mail Monday afternoon, Christen David, Senior Manager for Corporate Communications for United wrote LGBTQNation saying, "United does not tolerate discrimination of any kind and we take this customer’s complaint very seriously. We immediately initiated a review of the alleged incident and are contacting the customer to follow-up. However, we have not been able to corroborate the customer’s version of what was said." Also, David wrote "our Customer Care team has been in contact with Mr. Canu."