Southwest Airlines has just launched a travel site dedicated “to the gay and lesbian community,” following the example of American Airlines and other travel firms. Let’s hope Southwest updates their terminology to include the bi and trans communities as well. Their corporate diversity policy includes gender identity as well as sexual orientation, so I don’t see any policy reason for them to shy away from this.
Right now, there’s not much more on the site than lists of popular LGBT destinations and LGBT events in cities Southwest serves. It would help if each item was linked to a reservation form.
They include a few travel tips for LGBT voyagers, and note that parents should bring along copies of their child or children’s birth certificates and/or legal guardianship papers. Good advice, but the National Center for Lesbian Rights recommends that even in locations like Massachusetts, where both parents’ names can go on the birth certificate, “everyone who is not a biological parent [should] obtain an adoption or court order of parentage” to avoid “difficulties in having your parent-child relationship honored when traveling to other states and countries.” This would imply that traveling with a birth certificate may not be enough.
Beyond that one incomplete tip, there is no other advice for parents traveling with children, although they do mention that adding a dryer sheet to your suitcase will keep it smelling nice. At a minimum, a link to their mainstream Taking the Kids page would be helpful.
On the site, too, are links to the corporate diversity policy, supplier diversity program, and community relations program. As the FH Out Front Blog points out, this indicates an understanding that diversity can’t be just ad-deep, but must be embedded in company policy and culture.
A laudable effort, then, despite my criticisms. I hope they build it into something even more inclusive and useful for the entire LGBT community.
(Hat tip, FH Out Front Blog.)
Dana, thanks for the hat tip. We appreciate the link and will definitely be reading your blog in the future – there’s lots of interesting stuff here. We hope you’ll keep reading our blog (www.outfrontblog.com) and will offer comments and suggestions in the future.
Ben Finzel
Southwest will never get my business, no matter how they may seem to be courting us. They are the airline that can decide after boarding that a person of size needs to buy two tickets- and then either a) hold the flight until said person complies or b) leaves or c) is forceably removed from the plane. This has been an ongoing, well documented practice of theirs.