SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - A woman was escorted off of a Delta flight after she was told her clothing was "too revealing." Now, she's calling for change.
In January, Lisa Archbold was flying out of Salt Lake City to San Francisco when she was told to get off the plane after everyone was boarded and quiet.
She claims she was told by flight staff that she needed to "cover up" due to her clothing.
"She came to my seat and loudly asked to speak to me in private and escorted me off the plane as though I was a criminal," Archbold said. "I felt it was a spectacle aimed at punishing me for not being a woman the way she thought I should be a woman."
Archbold, who identifies as queer, says she was dressed like a little boy in baggy pants and a shirt.
She posted on "X," formerly known as Twitter, a photo of her outfit.
Archbold says Delta told her it's their policy that women need to cover up. She was told if she put on a jacket, she could fly. So, Archbold complied.
Now, she and her attorney are calling on the airline to change their policy.
"Delta's contract of carriage says that Delta may remove a passenger when reasonably necessary for the ‘comfort or safety of passengers.’ For example, when ‘the passengers conduct, attire, hygiene, or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers,'" said Archbold. "Please explain how wearing a t-shirt without a bra causes ‘an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance.’"
I'm actually with you. I find nudity suuuper uncomfortable, no matter who it is, and I avoid situations where I'm likely to run across it. Like, I'm queer and I generally skip Pride even though it bums me out, because I know there will be all kinds of skin on display. Someone wearing a transparent shirt (regardless of gender, in my case) on a plane would be an issue. It's not the lack of bra, it's that the shirt doesn't really cover anything. I don't think it's crazy to say that I don't want to see anyone's tits on a flight.
People make the same arguments about non-binary people, you realize that, right? And trans people, and public displays of affection by members of the LGBTQ+ community as a whole.
So by your logic, you'd be completely fine being removed from a flight because someone else, who you aren't even interacting with, finds your presence uncomfortable?
I'm sorry, are you comparing nudity to people just existing? Those two things are not related and honestly, you can fuck right off trying to act like my discomfort with the former is anything like the latter.
No, I'm comparing comfort to comfort in public spaces, which is the topic if discussion. She also wasn't nude, she was wearing a shirt, albeit see through, and was "jUsT eXiStInG." As far as I could tell, she wasn't wearing a sign that says "Check out my tits!" or walking up to strangers shoving them in their faces.
She was, as far as any of us know, waiting for her flight, then boarded her flight, and then was asked to leave due to "discomfort." So, discomfort is a justifiable reason when it's your discomfort, but not anyone else's?
But they are. They're nipples, unless you're an alien, as far as I know, you have them too. Had she been wearing a plain T-shirt but her nipples were hard, does she deserve to be removed from her flight that she paid for because of your discomfort?
Classy, I didn't insult you, I pointed out the flaw in your logic: things that make people uncomfortable shouldn't be allowed in public, which is just asinine. Your argument here is basically "but it makes me uncomfortable," which is just entitled and childish.
The majority of people who wear sandals, in my opinion, have disgusting feet, to the point where I wouldn't be able to eat around them. Feet are a fetish, therefore sexual, so do I now have the right to ask anyone wearing sandals to be removed from public or to "cover their nudity" because it makes me uncomfortable? No, the logical solution would be to, idk, not look at them. Wow, crazy idea, not to focus on something that makes you uncomfortable.
My point was, many people are "uncomfortable" around two men/women kissing, or even holding hands, and those same fucking arguments have been and are used to ban innocent behavior in public because of comfort. This woman was doing nothing wrong, and if you are so put off by seeing a nipple that you would have such a difficult time traveling to your destination, then you need to talk to someone professionally about it. Or, if you're incapable of, again, just not looking at them, then you need to work on your own self control.
And before you start with any bullshit about me being an asshole or LGBTQ+-phobic: I'm a trans woman who has spoken to my therapist of 6 years now, at length on several occasions, about my discomfort around other people's feet and body hair. Never once, once, has she suggested that other people should be barred from public for checks notes fucking existing.
Maybe learn to work on yourself and grow as a person, rather than demanding society bend over to appease you, personally. But what do I know, I was only raised in a household where your exact arguments were made to justify anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, but that can't be, because you claim they're completely unrelated. 🙄
Thanks for being reasonable and realizing that everyone is different.