The Right To Be Obscene?

Lorrie Heasley of Woodland, Washington is mad. She's so mad she plans to file a civil-rights complaint against Southwest Airlines. According to the Dallas Morning News, Ms. Heasley boarded a flight wearing a T-shirt that bore an expletive and images of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Well, this runs afoul of the airline's rules that allow them to deny boarding to any passenger whose clothing is "lewd, obscene or patently offensive." Seems like a reasonable policy, right? Since the News can't print what the expletive said, it's a safe bet that her T-shirt fit that description. When passengers complained, Ms. Heasley agreed to cover up the offensive shirt with a sweatshirt. But later, when the sweatshirt slipped off, revealing the offensive language again, airline employees told Ms. Heasley she would have to wear the T-shirt inside out, or get off the plane. She chose to get off. Now, I'm all for people exercising their right to free speach. But doesn't an airline have a right to not have their customers offended? This is an airplane, not an R-rated movie. Don't I have the right the right to ride on an airplane without having to explain to my kids what certain obscene words mean?

Not surprisingly, Heasley has been in touch with the ACLU.