Gilbert Caldwell and David Farrell are one of those rare species: a legally married couple under California state law. (Together they represent 0.0055556 percent of their kind.) Together for three years and domestic partners since 2002, they wed in June 2008, before Prop 8 shut things down a year ago this week. So how come Cadwell, 56, isn’t able to offer Farrell, 72, free flights on the airline SkyWest, his employer that offers that very perk to hetero married couples?
Good question! And it’s one this duo want answered, since state law requires legally married gay couples and domestic partnerships to be treated the same as hetero married couples in things like housing, insurance, and, yep, employment.
Working for SkyWest since 2004, Caldwell, a baggage agent based in Palm Springs, is only able to score discounted flights for Farrell, but not free ones like he’d be able to if Farrell were his bride. Which has the couple weighing a discrimination lawsuit against the airline if it doesn’t change its policy.
SkyWest, meanwhile, maintains that Farrell is Cladwell’s “travel companion.” You know, like carry-on baggage or a small dog. The airline also argues that its regional partner, Delta, refuses to grant equal benefits to gay spouses. (Caldwell sent both airlines letters asking for clarification.) Though as the Cladwell’s Lambda Legal attorney Tara Borelli notes (and the SF Chronicle paraphrases), “SkyWest’s explanation is hard to believe because Delta has a policy of treating its own gay and lesbian employees equally.”
How about we take this to the next level?
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Now, it’s a complete coincidence that SkyWest, which flies to more than 150 cities in North America, is based in the Mormon state of Utah, right? And that SkyWest’s chief executive, Jerry Atkin, is a LDS member himself? Not that we’re insinuating all Mormons hate the gays, but a top businessman dubbed a “famous Mormon” would, seemingly, subscribe to the church’s anti-gay marriage stance.
UPDATE: We checked the database of Prop 8 donors, and what’d we find? A $5,000 contribution from a an attorney named J. Ralph Atkin from St. George, Utah, where SkyWest is based. (The donation to ProtectMarriage.com was recorded Oct. 28, 2008.) And just who is J. Ralph Atkin? Oh, just the founder of a little airline company called … SkyWest. He retired as CEO in 1991; the company was taken over by Ralph’s nephew. His name is, oh, right, Jerry Atkin. Ah, it all makes sense now. (To be clear, Jerry’s own name didn’t turn up in the donors database.)
Cam
The airline also argues that its regional partner, Delta, refuses to grant equal benefits to gay spouses.
…as the Cladwell’s Lambda Legal attorney Tara Borelli notes “SkyWest’s explanation is hard to believe because Delta has a policy of treating its own gay and lesbian employees equally.”
Now, it’s a completely coincidence that SkyWest, which flies to more than 150 cities in North America, is based in the Mormon state of Utah, right? And that SkyWest’s chief executive, Jerry Atkin, is a LDS member himself?
____________________________________________
Gee, what a shock, a Utah Based company headed by a Mormon passes blame and lies about another company’s policy to try to deflect attention off of their own bigoted practices. That is the Mormon church’s standard practice when it comes to it’s bigotry.
Kent Parsons
This issue has nothing to do with Mormons. This is an obvious stretch and reveals the anti-Mormon bigotry of the author.
JDD
I agree with Kent. The fact that such a stretch must be made to somehow include a Mormon in this controversy shows the sort of witch-hunt mentality some in the gay community subscribe to. This sort of bigotry does not help your cause.
Kurt
Exactly, Kent. The only thing that exceeds the Gay Elitist love of bashing organized religion, is to ignore economic injustice. SkyWest is a non-union airline. Every airline with a union offers these benefits. That, and not Mormanism, is the issue.
terrwill
Kent and JDD. Lets see if your placed in same scenario as couple in story and how you react…………And JDD the author is not advocating bigotry, but simply pointing it out…..and whatever would cause a Gay person to question the motivation of a member of the Moron church??? Ever hear of a little incident called Prop 8??? You know the issue where a church that was founded because the founder wanted to diddle a lot of underage girls and figgered if they were married it was all right. And you know once you start diddling little girls its kinda like potato chips, you just can’t diddle one. So a religion founded on the concept of multiple marriages finds itself taking the cause to prevent another group of people from marrying one person!
Cam
The people that feel this article is bigoted seem to have missed something.
The airline is based in Utah with a Mormon at it’s head.
The founder of the airline, as well as the current CEO are both important members of the LDS church.
The airline discriniates against it’s legally married gay employees in violation of it’s own written policy.
The airline lied about the reasons behind it’s policy, trying to blame Delta Airlines, even though Delta does NOT discriminate against it’s gay employees. Lying about incidents to hide bigotry is something the Mormon church has done quiet commonly. Please remember the couple they threw off the public easement in Salt Lake City for kissing, THEN when there was an outcry they tried to claim that the couple was drunk, only to have the Salt Lake city Police dispute that.
Lastly, I know that this site is often targeted by people that come on, pretending to be gay and post. A very obvious one was when people were on here claiming to have been at the March and claiming that there was only a thousand or two marchers. Well JDD, when I clicked on your name, I went right to a Mormon link. So the victim attitude you sprew for your church doesn’t surprise me, your church has tried to paint itself as the poor victim for over 100 years.
I’m curious, YOUR chuch is the one that wouldn’t allow blacks into it until nearly 1980, YOUR church poured an inordinate amount of funds to end gay marriage in CA, then lied about where the money came from and tried to hide the fact that it was a top down project, YOUR church is funding much of NOM’s budget to fight anything related to gays across the country and yet WE are the bigots? Nice try. Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your family home evening, or a nice trip out to a Singles Ward meeting rather than coming on here and playing your phoney victim card?
Bill
One would think Kent Jones is the PR Spokesman for the Moron Church.
Moron + bigot = Mormon. No matter how you slice it, Kent.
Why don’t you go and hide in the closet. We aren’t using it any longer.
rodney
It’s witch hunt stories like this that make all homosexuals look bad. The national media would never give the time of day to a story like this because it is so far fetched.
Bill
Rodney is BACK! To defend the Mormons!
There is still room in the closet with Kent, dear Rodney.
Just don’t you and Kent be getting up to anything gay in there with your magical underpants.
More Man
Leave the Mormons out of your slimy spin-cycle stories. It is always entertaining for us Mormons to read your garbage and laugh at your misspelled words and lack of overall education. You are the victims and you’ve chosen the role on your own. It is too difficult for you to accept that the vast majority of the world is horrified at your way of life. You’ve just chosen the Mormons for their wholesome goodness to be the face of your discontent.
Bill
One only has to look to More Man to observe that there simply is NO love quite like Mormon hate.
Wholesome goodness? Jeez, boy. What are you, a granola bar?
Go peddle your crazy somewhere else today. We ain’t buying.
More Man
Billy, you are right. The hate grows with each mis-informed article written by a fagnut bigot that I read. I can’t help it. The distortion of the Mormon faith that goes on by writing like this will do nothing but inflame the hatred against you. Good luck with your movement.
naghanenu
And this is why gay marriage lost in California…
look its one thing to say..if i get married it wont affect you as a religious group and another thing to refer to people who have issues with gay marriage as bigots.
FYI.. the bible categorically states homosexuality is an abomination..so does the quran and yes the torah. Get over it deal with it.
When pple think lets live and let live, you create the panic that religious freedom is a thing of the past and label them bigots because they do not consider gay unions ordained by God. This creates fear people..and that is why religious people who may support gay marriage will fuck you up at the ballot box.
YES I REFER TO YOU PROP 8
Bill
Perhaps More Man and naghanenu have not received the memo.
Religion + Government = No No
And you will only get away with your particular brand of terrorism for so long, bois.
Now go shit in your magical underpants, ya tards.
Cam
No. 10 · More Man said…
just chosen the Mormons for their wholesome goodness to be the face of your discontent.
___________________________
LOL!!!! You aren’t wholesome or good. You think that nobody knows real Mormon culture? The passive agreesive shame based pressure to conform? The policy of not talking about anything that could be unconfortable? The church demanding tithing from people barely able to support the vast families? The chruch telling parents that if their children are gay it is because evil has taken hold of them and they aren’t really their children anymore? You need to go study the book of Nephi or put together an exciting photo book full of sparkly balloon covered crepe paper to use to ask a girl you are pretending to like out to the singles mixer and stop wasting our time with your pathetic defenses.
Your post reminds me of when David Duke would say that the Klan wasn’t a bigoted organization because they believed all races should be separate and that that was as good for blacks as it is for white. So go ahead and call yourself wholesome and good all you want. Oh, and don’t think the rest of us don’t know what you mean by wholesome (Blonde, blue eyed).
reluctantcommenter
why do mormons even use the internet? i thought they could get all the answers they needed from looking into a hat with some rocks in it.
The Milkman
Bigots hate being called bigots.
But when you think that other law-abiding adult human beings aren’t deserving of equal civil rights because they’re gay, then that’s exactly what you are.
If the shoe fits, wear it.
AxelDC
Not surprising that an LDS-based religion would fight against gay rights. It’s also not surprising that they would lie, just as they did about their involvement in Prop. 8, and try to use Delta as a cover for their hateful policies.
I’d be shocked if Delta would risk offending gay and gay-friendly people. SkyWest can afford to alienate gays and those offended by homophobia, just as BYU could afford to be officially racist until the late 1970s, but Delta is a national airline with strong ties to the West Coast and Americans outside the Jello Belt.
In fact, if Delta gets a boycott because lies about its policies, just as United did 10 years ago, I would think they would sue SkyWest for defamation.
Brian P
As with most regional carriers, SkyWest has very low minimums for hiring pilots. I try to avoid them as much as possible as I feel safer with an experienced crew. You should too.
pantherq
Silly us.
We though they were going to quit discriminating against us when the law said they had too.
At least that is what they told us.
pantherq
The mormons seem to be in full form here.
But where is our regular troll? Did we get to close to your source?
Are you busy on Maine websites today?
You horrid jerks need to figure out that you can not get away with ostracizing others.
I’m looking into that pesky mormon=nazi connection. It wont be hard, a dna test will do.
You chose to persecute us for your own ends, did you think we would let you?
Adios,
A Lost Boy
Joseph
US Airways has it the right way. Every employee gets One person on their benefits, be it husband, wife, friend, sibling, girlfriend, boyfriend. Seems easier, eh?
Mel
It’s simple. SkyWest is a Delta connection partner. Write to Delta, tell them how SkyWest is slandering/libeling them, and tell Delta you aren’t flying with them anymore until they correct this problem.
There’s lots of airlines around.
Heather
naghanenu said “FYI.. the bible categorically states homosexuality is an abomination..so does the quran and yes the torah. Get over it deal with it.”
Well naghanenu I have news for you. The bible also states that marriage is ok between a woman and her rapist, a man and his many wives and concubines, etc. I suggest you look up Betty Bowers on YouTube. She clarifies it very nicely. Don’t go preaching what the bible says about marriage. Or the Book of Mormon for that matter.
Interracial marriage was also said to be against God. So what changed there? These same arguements were made back in the 60’s and 70’s. And for you MORmONs Brigham Young had many many many different quotes about interracial marriage and blacks. Your profits/god seem to change their mind a lot.
anon
The company’s CEO is Mormon, it’s founder gave thousands to support the passage of Prop. 8, and Skywest offers reduced benefits to gay couples, compared to straight couples. This is especially notable, because taken as a whole, the airline industry is overwhelmingly very LGBT-friendly, with nearly all companies offering same-sex domestic partners the same benefits as spouses (this probably has something to do with the huge number of gay men working as flight attendants and other roles in the airline industry; we love to travel!). Ii don’t see how pointing out any of these facts amounts to “bigotry,” especially in light of the discriminatory actions engaged in by Skywest.
It will be interesting to see how Delta (and United, which also partners with Skywest) respond to this. It’s terrible PR, and especially Delta has gone out of its way to appeal to LGBT travelers.
Keith Kimmel
Organized religion lost all credibility when they started paying the parents of little, underage raped alter boys to be quiet. Until they fix that mess, as far as I am concerned, ANYTHING they say or do is invalid until proven otherwise.
You have to admire these assholes, though. God says thou shalt not judge, to treat others as they want to be treated and to love thy neighbor. So these assholes open churches all across the country and pass the collection plate as many times as possible, and then use all that money to fund campaigns of doing exactly what god told them not to do.
They are all going to hell, as far as I am concerned. If there was a hell. I am an atheist for this very reason. Today’s brand of organized religion as a whole is a joke. The people who run it are con men. The people who go to church are simply too stupid to realize they are being fleeced.
Whats the saying? A fool and his money soon part? The guy who uttered that must have been watching a collection plate go around at a church.
tinkerbell
Let me get this right: Mormonism= a religion based on the premise of a dude in 1830s NY who a god gave solid gold tablets to, then took them back before anyone could see them? OMG, how apparent that this is a valid religion, LMAO. At least the other religions can vague themselves in the mist of ancient superstitions. Mormonism is laughable at best and cultfully dangerous at it’s scariest incarnation.
dontblamemeivotedforhillary
Ewwww, that’s scatological!
Joseph
Joseph (the other Joseph), Continental offers the same policy as US Airways: unmarried employees can name one person to receive flight benefits. I was employed by Continental in the late 90s when the rule went into effect. That an airline today still discriminates against its gay employees is astonishing.
Arthur
A Mormon leading a company in Utah is no more noteworthy than a Catholic leading a company in Massachussets.
The problem is by failing to recognize domestic partnerships and marriages, SkyWest is demonstrating poor corporate citizenship and it cannot be allowed to stand.
In addition to SkyWest, pressure should be exerted on Delta and United, its business partners. Also, please note that SkyWest is the owner of Atlantic Southeast Airlines. Pressure should be applied there as well.
m
“important members of the Mormon church”, huh? I’ve never heard of them and I’m a lifelong member. I think important is a stretch.
Also, what’s the deal with halting freedom of speech? The Church is perfectly within its rights to voice opinion on issues (not candidates) and to advocate for those issues. I’m sorry you feel differently than the Church and you’re certainly within your rights to advocate the other side of the issue. But for a people who are only now able to speak somewhat freely about their lifestyle in public, I think you would be more sensitive to freedom of speech issues.
naghanenu
Hmm Heather have u actually read a bible before by your own self..Nooo..well typical.
No where does the bible hate on interracial marraiges. As a matter of fact God attacked Moses’s sister for dissing his Arab wife for being Arab…Moses had to beg for his sister’s life…look it up.
Lets be honest here. Ive heard all the crap being spewed about religion and i get it..i do. But you cannot attack them without facts cause they will crush you again and again.
Religion as you say is seperate from state so remember that when you accuse someone who does not support gay marriage for reason of his or her faith.
Joseph
It’s ok to voice an opinion, but when that voice turns to action and results in discrimination against a group of people, then it is wrong and goes beyond freedom of speech. That is what is happening here with SkyWest.
SoylentDiva
LOL. Mention “Mormon” in a post and the Morg swarm in to defend their cult every time. Too bad they’re on the wrong side of everything.
Peter Smith
I am a mature male, a husband, father and grandfather, yet in my years of experience, I have had to bring some of my feelings and emotions under control. When I was a teenager, I found that I had very strong feelings for one of my friends, also male. If you had told me that this was homosexuality, I would have denied it, but I did have to work out my feelings and make sure they were properly focused. As a young adult I found myself with very strong feelings for two or three women at the same time. In fact, I can say that I was in love with them. In today’s jargon, we’d call a man who acted on all of these at the same time a polygamist. Again, I had to work out my feelings to ensure they were properly focused. As a middle aged man, but happily married, I found myself emotionally attached to a few young women who had become close to our family, each at different times. Had I acted on these emotions, I would have been called an adulterer, a pervert, or at minimum, a letch. Again, I had to exercise enough self discipline to properly focus my feelings and handle these relationships in an appropriate manner.
As a result, I have come to the conclusion that generally, GLBTs are suffering from feelings and emotions that are very natural, but if acted upon, are wrong. God gave man the gift of sex for two and only two reasons – one to express love to our mate, and two, to procreate. The scriptures have many references to the sin of homosexuality, and more importantly, the sanctity of the relationship between a man and a woman. Generally, GLBTs have chosen not to exercise the discipline necessary to overcome the feelings they have for members of their own gender. There is no way you can convince me that the feelings of a homosexual are appropriate. I simply do not believe it. Now if two people of the same gender want to live together, I will not judge them for not resolving their feelings. But then, I will not judge a polygamous family or a May-December romance either.
spindoc
No. 31 · m
“important members of the Mormon church”, huh? I’ve never heard of them and I’m a lifelong member. I think important is a stretch.
Also, what’s the deal with halting freedom of speech? The Church is perfectly within its rights to voice opinion on issues (not candidates) and to advocate for those issues.
___________________________________________
And once again the Mormon lies and distortions continue. Hey “M” Please stop trying to pretend that there aren’t several site, books etc… out there that list ll the prominent Mormons in business. You can’t be in a room with a Mormon without them pointing at the TV and saying “You know, Glen Beck is Mormon” etc.. every time ANYBODY who is Mormon comes on.
…………..As for your idiotic comment about “Freedom of Speech” well, you’re either a liar or the schools in Utah are really sub-standard. Sorry bigot, freedom of speech is your right to express an opinion and not be arrested by the govt. for it…You do NOT have the right to not have to her people who disagree with you, AND you do not have the right to call actual discrimination, like the kind Skywest is doing, freedom of speech. Sorry idiot, speech is the expressing of opinions. Discriminating against this legally married couple is an action, not speech. So once again, the Mormons try to lie, to deflect, to cover, and to blame others. Nice try, but you don’t sound very bright…you were probably sent to Idaho for your mission, they didn’t want somebody with your low level of intelligence to embarrass the church in front of foreigners. The fact that Mormons troll the internet to look for any mention of the church, and then flock to whatever website mentions them just shows the small minded panic you people live with everyday.
Cam
No. 35 · Peter Smith
As a result, I have come to the conclusion that generally, GLBTs are suffering from feelings and emotions that are very natural, but if acted upon, are wrong. God gave man the gift of sex for two and only two reasons – one to express love to our mate, and two, to procreate. The scriptures have many references to the sin of homosexuality, and more importantly, the sanctity of the relationship between a man and a woman.
_________________________________________
Interesting, God gave man the gift of sex to express love for his mate? Hmm, such a special gift…for such a special reason? If it is so sacred and special, mind if I ask why god then gave “Sex” to ever animal roaming the planet? Are the 15 male cats yowling outside my window expressing “Love” for the one female cat in heat taking them all on? Are the two dogs on my lawn expressing love before running off in two separate directions? You can try to paint it any way you want, but when you are with your wife, you can express love in many many other ways. Your opinion that gays just need to overcome their feelings is beyond ridiculous. It is cruel to the people that they woul marry. You say that you are a parent. Fine, then all those gays who are “Overcoming their feelings” should marry your children and your relatives. Since it’s all for a good cause you wouldn’t mind sacrificing your children’s happiness so that they can live a lie for the greater good now would you?
tinkerbell
You people need to take your kooky cultism and go away. One’s life is only a “sin” if you believe the set of constructs (namely a kooky religion that was made up in the 1830s by a con-man)that classifies someone who loves another person as being evil.
I’m a happy a-theist. I don’t believe in “sin” any more than I do a crazy belief that a magical diety came to 1830s NY and gave solid gold tablets to a convicted criminal and then took them away again before anyone else could see them.
I also refuse to structure my whole life around a Prada-wearing, Nazi who hates gay folk and who wears better drag than any queen and makes a fortune off of poor people whom he can fleece out of their last dime with promises of a peaceful afterlife. Ditto for the crystal-cathedral multimillion-dollar racket of evangelicalism. Why is religion the only facet of society in which we look to the past and not the future???
Go away, Mormons! You’re annoying and make no rational sense and have no logical arguments.
Mildly amused...
It’s sad to see anti-Mormon bigotry thinly disguised as pro-gay advocacy. The very people who have supposedly embraced love and tolerance have shown nothing but hatred and bigotry to those of the Mormon faith. Mormons have the right to practice their religion and support causes they believe in. It’s a right guaranteed by the Constitution. The harassment, hatred, bigotry, and violence shown towards Mormons completely undermines the cause of gays.
Cam
No. 39 · Mildly amused… said..
It’s sad to see anti-Mormon bigotry thinly disguised as pro-gay advocacy. The very people who have supposedly embraced love and tolerance have shown nothing but hatred and bigotry to those of the Mormon faith.
______________________________________________-
Annnnnnnndddddd SCENE! (Clap Clap Clap) So nice to see the typical Mormon defense of “We’re the victims, how DARE you not let us steal away your rights, put you down as second class citizens, deny your right to live?! You are all bigots for not letting us Ruin your lives!”……………………………………………………
Can I please inform the Mormons here now that your typical defnse of playing the victim card only works when you use it against people that you haven’t directly attacked and tried to destroy. It didn’t work when you were discriminating against blacks and not allowing them full membership until nearly the 1980’s in your church, and your Church’s P.R. had only JUST recovered from that mess when you went after another group, gays, with your Prop 8 attacks on us. So again, here is a thought, gays defending themselves against a large, rich, secretive organization that reached out to attack us isn’t bigotry. However, the Momon church’s history of organizing it’s funds and followers in an effort to stomp on the rights of Minorities IS bigotry. So go play your victim card someplace else, it won’t work here.
Mary
I find it so sad that all of this hate has to be spewed because people want to live their lives differently than how someone else feels they should.
Am I talking about homosexuality or Mormonism?
Think about it.
Cam
No. 41 · Mary said….
I find it so sad that all of this hate has to be spewed because people want to live their lives differently than how someone else feels they should.
Am I talking about homosexuality or Mormonism?
Think about it.
_____________________________________________-
Isn’t it a shame that one group has to attack, spew hatred and misinformation, lie, funnell money through front organizations, hide memos from their leaders, and do everything possible to preserve their tax exempt status even while they break the law by attempting to influence the course of elections. Am I talking about homosexuality or Mormonism? Think about it……………………………………………………
Oh wait, I thought about it, it’s Mormonism. The gay groups never mentioned Mormonism, it was the Mormon chruch that began attacking gays now that they are not allowed to attack, discriminate and try to make blacks 2nd class citizens anymore. And before blacks, it was women…..
reluctantcommenter
mary is one insightful lady. she probably spends as much time staring into a hat full of rocks as joseph smith did!
SkwPilot
If you try to comment on any of this in Skywest’s online forum for employees, the director of communications will make you take down your posts. It happened to a colleague of mine and the director of corp. communications was counseled for, you guessed it, discrimination. The forum is full of conservative banter. Skywests’ executives don’t put their beliefs aside when making their policies.
Andrew
Mormonism is vering dangerously close to being a hate group period.
T&P Tom
No. 39 · Mildly amused… said..
It’s sad to see anti-Mormon bigotry thinly disguised as pro-gay advocacy. The very people who have supposedly embraced love and tolerance have shown nothing but hatred and bigotry to those of the Mormon faith.
You play the victim well. I realize that this role is integral to the identity of Mormons, but I think you need to wake up and realize just what the LDS church has become–a bully!
It’s shocking how uninformed LDS folks are about their own religion–past and present. The lack of awareness of what kind of organization they belong to is what is TRULY sad.
Face it: This policy is in place because the CEO is a bigot, as are most of his fellow members of the church.
SoylentDiva
“I find it so sad that all of this hate has to be spewed because people want to live their lives differently than how someone else feels they should.
Am I talking about homosexuality or Mormonism?
Think about it.”
Mary, nobody gives a damn how Mormons live their lives. We may think their beliefs are whack but we aren’t trying to forbid them from having them. We aren’t trying to close down their churches, forbid their marriages, prevent them from adopting children, ban their magic underwear, bar their entry into the Celestial Kingdom, etc.
They, on the other hand, are pouring millions of dollars and countless hours into efforts to destroy every single piece of legislation that might give us rights equal to heterosexual people/couples, and even to put in place legislation that harms us.
Don’t even try to pretend our disdain for them is equivalent to what they’re doing to us. Our disdain for them is *because of* what they’re doing to us. If they’d leave us the fuck alone we wouldn’t pay them the least bit of attention.
whyallthehate
WOW, this argument is way off topic! Why is it that everyone wants to blame the Mormons? SkyWest offers travel benefits for both United Airlines and Delta Airlines. United Airlines offers SkyWest a travel companion that an employee can choose to have on their benefits. The travel companion is the same as a married spouse on the employee’s travel benefits. So tell me why would SkyWest have the ability to choose a travel companion with one airline and not the other? Before you blame this issue on a Mormon, you should research the facts. I don’t buy that a lawyer has researched this issue and this is SkyWest’s choice. Before you tell me I don’t know anything, you should know that I am an employee with SkyWest and I have a travel companion with United but not Delta. This issue is with Delta and not SkyWest or some Mormon conspiracy. If the Mormons really did not want to give equal rights to gays then they would allow a travel companion with United Airlines?
No Wonder
“Anti-Mormon bigotry?” Oh please. The Mormon “church” is a vicious hate cult.
vernonvanderbilt
Fuck the Mormons. They serve no useful purpose in this world, and we’d all be better off without them. I hope I live long enough to see their temple crumble to dust.
Cam
No. 48 · whyallthehate said.
Before you blame this issue on a Mormon, you should research the facts. I don’t buy that a lawyer has researched this issue and this is SkyWest’s choice. Before you tell me I don’t know anything, you should know that I am an employee with SkyWest and I have a travel companion with United but not Delta. This issue is with Delta and not SkyWest or some Mormon conspiracy.
_______________________________
Nice Try thinly diguised Mormon…..HOWEVER, this issue is not about a “Travel Companion”. This issue is about a legally married couple that according to Sky Wests own written policy should be given full travel allowances. But again, nice try at misstating the issue and deflecting the truth, you Mormons seem to be nearly as good at that as you are at playing the victim anytime anybody points out your bigotry and hatred towards minority groups.
whyallthehate
This issue is about not having travel benefits for his partner. He has travel benefits for his partner with United Airlines but not with Delta. Hmmm why would the company offer one with United and not with Delta? I guess instead of pointing the finger at Delta or SkyWest it’s easy to just lay blame on a Mormon. You can designate a travel partner with United who is then allowed full travel benefits but we do not have the ability with Delta. I still don’t understand why this is a Mormons fault when the company is allowed to offer full travel benefits with United and not Delta. I would be happy to say that SkyWest is discriminating against gays if they did not offer full travel privileges on United. It does not make sense to offer it with one airline and not the other.
Argument:
Caldwell would like to have his partner be able to travel on Delta like his married hetero coworkers.
This issue is all about a “travel companion.” A travel companion has the same rights as that of a married companion, which is what United Airlines offers SkyWest. Delta offers it to their own employees but for some reason SkyWest does not have the same agreement with Delta that Delta has with its own employees. If you were to read the beginning of this article it states that Caldwell would like free flights like that of his hetero married coworkers. He has free flights with United but he does not with Delta, lets somehow blame the Mormons. HUH? If the Mormons did not wanted to discriminate against the gays then he would not have travel privileges with United.
I am betting that of all of these posts not one of you works for the airlines which explains alot. Our travel agreement with other carriers is ridiculous and does not make sense most of the time. We are a regional carrier that works for other airlines. I am a Mormon and I do not like the way that Delta has our travel agreement set up with them. United makes more sense and should it come to a vote to have the same privileges on Delta and United, which would allow for a “travel companion” I would vote yes. I am in full support of a change in our travel benefits with Delta to allow for Caldwell to have has married partner have the same travel privileges like that of a hetero married couple. A change is needed but blaming it on the Mormons is not!
Cam
No. 52 · whyallthehate said…
Again, your bigotry is apparent. His “Partner” is in actuality his LEGAL HUSBAND under California law. Skywests written policy states that legally marriaged people may give their spouse the full travel benefits. The fact that you just admitted that Caldwell doesn’t have the same benefits as he would if he had a hetro married couple ends the discussion. You are Mormon, you are spouting the party line, that is to be expected.
whyallthehate
Your right its time to end this discussion since you did not read my entire post. I am in support of Caldwell recieving the same benefits as a hetro married couple. It’s funny how I get called a bigot and yet I am in support of helping Caldwell. I just don’t believe he will get support by having you defend him. Its a good thing he hired a laywer to get the job done and not you. This is an issue with Delta and not Mormons. You can call it what you want but you don’t have the facts and instead you will continue to just point your finger at the Mormons. Good luck and this discussion is over! If Mr. Caldwell would like a petition signed from SkyWest employee’s for his support I will be the first one to sign! I am not going to blame someone else for the issue before knowing the facts!
Cam
No. 54 · whyallthehate said…
Your right its time to end this discussion since you did not read my entire post. I am in support of Caldwell recieving the same benefits as a hetro married couple.
_______________________
And yet you are defending a company as not being bigoted when the founder and board members donated to Prop 8. Just another example…
Airline Insider
For some of you who are astonished by this, I’d like to shed some light if I may on the nature of the airline business as it pertains to carrier policies towards GLBT employees.
Being a former employee of 20 years with a major carrier, I for one can say that most airlines discriminate against GLBT folks. The reason for all of the media hype these days concerning carriers who “do the right thing” solely depends on how influential and successful of a sales and marketing team they have….. After all, many people in today’s economy would tend to believe anything about a companies’ policies given the right corporate perks and lobbying tactics, and the major carriers have this strategy down to a science.
I have worked directly with corporate airline folks concerning corporate GLBT policy revision and I can tell you for a fact that the carrier in which I worked for ONLY supported GLBT non-profits and greased palms with the GLBT media and our national GLBT leaders solely to protect its corporate branding and to cover-up the REAL inside culture and policies which discriminated against GLBT folks, not just in benefits but also in employee hiring and promotion as well………. And of course since they were “Platinum” sponsors of HRC (the very organization which gave them a copy of the CEI index questionnaire ONE YEAR IN ADVANCE thus always guaranteeing the carrier 100% ) they were virtually “perfect” in every way concerning their treatment of GLBT folks, at least that’s what they wanted everyone to believe……….. in reality it was farthest from the truth
And they were very successful at it too, especially due to the fact they were very clever in forming a GLBT specific sales and marketing team consisting of high profile, influential GLBT corporate folks to accomplish this. And who would ever believe that corporate GLBT folks would ever sellout their fellow GLBT employees for the company bottom line………. Very strategically well planned.
The result of course is that discriminatory policies remain covered-up, overshadowed by GLBT non-profit protectionism (after all they are receiving corporate sponsorships too), and the discriminated GLBT employees are horribly retaliated against for speaking up in protest……….and yes folks, as unbelievable as it may seem even by our very own GLBT corporate folks who would do anything to keep their gay corporate status and glory……
Yes I feel that a corporation’s, and especially a major airline’s ideology does originate from the top and therefore establishes the corporate culture and sets the stage for diversity inclusion or exclusion. Please know, however, that most of them follow suit of the carriers mentioned above, especially one which has the audacity to name its “GLBT” Sales and Marketing team after a multicolored arc in the sky, a symbol which for years has depicted GLBT unity……… how blatantly hypocritical.
Thanks for letting me share my perspective and experience on this issue.
Kurt
Airline Insider is right on target.
Corporate GLBT groups and initiatives are mostly BS.
The only thing that has protected employee rights in the travel industry has been their unions. Its not about good corporate citizenship or outside groups pressuring companies. It is about giving employees a voice on the job.
SnowLion
I can just picture a room full of paid full time bloggers, in the LDS Church Office building, ( or maybe that’s what all those “service missionaries” do nowadays for free ) cruising all the gay web-sites, trying deperately, for some reason, to convince us all that they don’t despise, loathe, (OK, I’ll just have to say it) HATE gays.
“But we’re Mormons! But we’re just all really sweet and wholesome! My grandfather drug a wooden pallet across the plains because everybody wanted to kill him! We love absolutely everybody, just not what they do, think, believe, eat, look like, wear, how they vote, part their hair, do or do not have children, work outside the home if they are mothers, who they kiss on their own time….I’ll have to stop now because I ran out of pinky strength on my keyboard. Please don’t say that we’re not just full of love for everyone. It will burst our little balloons of self-delusional, self-righteous, chest swelling, ego mania.( And it will make our hero, Glenn Beck, cry!)”
After all, they are the church that invented love. They are the “ONE and ONLY true church”.(They really should trademark that little catch phrase.) ( Heard that in Fast and Testimony meetings millions of times, parroted like so much brain washed babble. ) They are the only ones that can define true compassion, true discrimination, what the U.S. Constitution actually means, true freedom of the press ( Oh wait, their fearless founder raided a newspaper office and destroyed it’s press. )(Hey but he was right!!)( His was the true press destruction!!)
OK. Exhausted now. Damn, it felt good to rant for a bit though.
Mormon trolls, keep coming back for more! Please! Great time had by all. Loved it. Love your Jello too.
romeo
Mormon trolls. LOL
Get over yourselves, morons. It’s not just US that can’t stand you. If you weren’t so insular and delusional, you’d realize how screwed you are the minute anybody finds out what you’re really all about. We’re biology. We’ll always be here. You’re just a collection of goofy ideas that the future will have less and less time for. Nazi motherfuckers.
romeo
And Peter Smith #35: Yours was a very poignant post, but I fear not in the way you intended. Sorry about the box you put yourself in all those years ago. Your words have no relevance here at all. Here, we prefer to live authentic lives by our own lights, not the lights of others as you have done.
I’ve known so many men like you, and I feel so sorry for all of you.
jaerco
I also work for this airline. I’ve spoken to a large law firm based in DC and was told that there are numerous counts of gay discrimination here being investigated. They blame their partner airlines but, when I spoke to those partner airlines they claimed those statements were untrue. Even if their partner airlines were suggesting these discriminatory practices, someone at this airline agreed to the terms. This makes them just as guilty as it they wrote the policy themselves, (which they probably did). You can’t expect us to beleive that a legacy carrier who doesn’t tolerate the practice of discrimination at their own airline would really expect their regional partner to. I sincerely hope these two men sue the hell out this airline and never have to work another day in their lives. We’re tired of being treated like second class citizens when we are busting our asses to positively represent this airline. As long as we are doing the same job, we should be receiving the same benefits.
estecel
SkyWest doesn’t just discriminate against gays…they discriminate against who ever they see fit. If I may speak freely in your blog, I am a female who had an accident in my pants and was told by a male sup that I was pulling my “girl card.” When I reported him, they totally d-listed me and have hazed me since. I work in a department where I hear people–a bunch of white LDS folks–call Barack Obama by the “n” word and other racial slurs. This is corporate, also nepitism central. This company is very dirty and I totally believe anyone who says they feel discriminated against, be it gay, female, or darker complexion. It’s bad here.
estecel
PS…that’s coming from St George.
Retard
Hey Morons! Skywest doesnt make the rules, its Delta and United.
estecel
Who ever thinks SkyWest is fair to all groups, I can tell you that out of all the employees in corporate headquarters, I have only seen two african-american employees, one female, one male. Look at the size of this company. I am sure that it’s not because those with darker complexions haven’t applied for a job.
Almost everyone in a management position in corporate is a married, white male meeting SkyWest’s biased views. There are a few exceptions such as the VP of the People Department (a motherly job?) and the VP of Inflight. And, almost all the people in management positions coincidentally are not only related to someone else in management but also LDS. I see it every single day and the ratios are NOT equal.
I can think of a male CRJ captain who is homosexual, and who when other people ask if I know him, they always use “gay” or “homosexual” as a descriptive term. Example:
(using name John Doe to protect innocent) “Do you John Doe? Not the straight John Doe but the gay John Doe?”
This is coming from SkyWest employees. When did it become acceptable to use gender, race, sexual preference to identify a person? It would be the same as identifying the only african-american male in the building as “the black guy.”
SkyWest not only needs to be hit with affirmative action and bombarded by the ACLU, they need to educate staff on acceptance of ALL.
bkmarkwell
Who said all Gays are from Idaho. You must be a Mormom Biggot. If someone is happy no matter the gender just leave them alone.
Happy needs to be happy in the world right now. I am not gay, but I will totally support anyone that is. My son and brother have fought for (supposed to be this country) in Iraq to bring no matter what religion or preference togheter as one. Get over it. Carry on no matter what it is. LUVS to ALL
bkmarkwell
@JDD: Times like this I am just happy I am a gemale in the Catholic religion, not an alter boy.
bkmarkwell
@estecel: Black? What? Guess I am
Freckled? Where do I fit in?
transboy
i am an ex-skywest employee. i was forced to quit when my mormon bishop boss found out i was transgender. he called me in his office alone. (it is policy to have some else in the office with us during these types of meetings)
he addressed the fact that since i was soon going to appear as the opposite gender, he personally did not condone this. he then inquired how i would go to the bathroom? i certainly would not be allowed to use the bathroom to match my gender because it would upset the balance of nature.
he specifically told me not to let my colleagues know as i had discussed with him that i was going to inform my coworkers. he told me it was none of their business as i was there to do a job and not socialize.
that’s ignorance.
soon after that meeting, i started getting written up for random things. i had received praise and thanks for jobs well done and suddenly other supervisors under his direction started finding fault with everything i did. they followed me to nitpick at anything i did. they even had a witness swear up and down that i had wrecked a work vehicle. i begged for a lie detector test and they denied me saying they knew it was me because a witness saw me.
they had this guy confront me saying he had seen me when i suspected it was this guy who really wrecked that vehicle. i felt alone as no one would cross this boss. i even asked them to get the security video that supposedly is all over the airport. they claimed the area was not within camera range.
this is only one incident they harrassed me about. there are more made up scenarios. i called human resources in st george to no avail as it was my word against his.
i quit or i would have been fired. after i quit, he informed other employees that i was fired for incompetence. other employees who witnessed how i was treated did not back me up as they did need their jobs. one employee had recently been fired for crossing the boss and we all knew it was wrong but i personally didnt say a thing because i needed my job, so i understood.
i was hired immediatey by Delta Airlines and it’s been a 360 degree turn. Thank God. i am now treated fairly. better pay. no one harrasses me. i get respect. i have been promoted to supervisor. they focus on my skills and not my sexual expression or preference. i have awesome benefits and it is GREAT not working with bigots.
it ended well and the boss ended up losing his department for, im assuming, poor supervisor skills. its still irks me that i was treated unfairly in this day and age.
totally unacceptable by any standard.