Airline apologises after passenger finds 'I Am Gay' written on luggage

An airline has issued an apology after a passenger's bag appeared on the luggage carousel with 'I AM GAY' written in white paper along the side.

The passenger posted a picture of his bag on Twitter at the weekend, and the image has caused a social media storm.

It occurred after a Jetstar flight from Perth to Brisbane, but where the lettering took place is not yet clear.

User @aaronpp uploaded the image, with the caption: "Utterly disgusted to find my luggage front and centre on the @JetstarAirways luggage carousel looking like this."

He has now set up a blog to answer questions about the incident that he describes as #thatHorribleSuitcase.

It reads: "I would like to point out that Jetstar has contacted me and offered a very sincere apology. For which I am grateful.

"They are also conducting a "serious" investigation that I am assisting them with. Their PR machine is making all the right noises and saying all the right things. I have set no expectations of Jetstar with regards to their procedures or outcomes."

On Twitter, he says: "I'd rather have broad consciousness raising over job losses."

And indeed, his blog addresses the idea of homophobia over some desire to get people the sack. After describing himself as white heterosexual male, he says he got to walk in the shoes of a gay person for a few minutes, and understands why they may feel "persecuted".

He writes: "It isn't the words that hurt, it's the intention behind them. "I am gay" was not emblazened across my luggage as a celebration. It was used as a pejorative. It was used to humiliate. It was used as a slur."

And to people who are telling him to toughen up, he wrote: "This incident isn't about me, it's about what we as a society find acceptable."

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