A same-sex Florida couple with three children says Southwest Airlines discriminated against them when a gate agent refused to let them get on a plane during family boarding.
Grant Morse, 54, his husband Sam, also 54, his mother in law, 83, and their three kids were waiting to board their flight to Fort Lauderdale from Buffalo, New York, Saturday.
After the agent finished loading the "A section" of the plane — Southwest does not have seating assignments — and announced that family boarding would follow, Morse and his family approached the podium at the gate, attempting to board.
"[The gate agent] very loudly and abruptly said, 'It is family boarding only. You're not a family and it's not your time to board,'" Morse said in an interview with USA Today.
Morse allegedly told the agent that they were, in fact, a family, but she allegedly didn't budge.
"And I'm like, 'I'm a father and he's a father. It is impossible for one person to push three strollers and handle twin boys at 3 and a girl at 5,'" Morse reportedly said.
Morse says that the gate agent eventually said one of the men could board with the children, while the other would have to wait with his elderly mother. When local Buffalo station WGRZ first reported the story, Southwest initially pointed to their family boarding policy that states that "an adult traveling with a child 6 years old or younger may board during Family Boarding."
Morse says he understands the policy could be interpreted as meaning only one adult may board with children, but said he interprets it as meaning one adult with each child. He also says that a heterosexual couple and their child were allowed to board as he and his husband were forced to wait.
Allegedly, after letting others board, the Morse family was told the airline had saved four seats for them at the back of the plane. Not enough for the family to sit together as planned.
Morse told the Huffington Post that he’s considering bringing a lawsuit against Southwest, though if he did, he’d give away any damages he won.