Southwest Denies Boarding to Woman in “Lewd” Outfit

A Chicago woman says she was denied boarding a Southwest Airlines flight earlier this week over what the carrier said was a “lewd, obscene and offensive” outfit.

Kayla Eubanks said she was flying through New York’s LaGuardia Airport en route to Chicago Midway when she was stopped. At the time she was wearing what Southwest considered to be a revealing halter top.

In order to eventually fly, she was asked to wear a T-shirt given to her by the pilot.

“I get to the gate and the lady’s like, ‘You’re not gonna be able to board.’ I’m like, ‘Why not?’ and she’s like, ‘Well you need to cover up,'” Eubanks told NBC News in Chicago in an interview.

Eubanks asked to see the airline’s policy or dress code, and was shown Southwest’s website where it said the carrier can refuse service to passengers who are “engaging in lewd, obscene or patently offensive behavior, including wearing clothes that are lewd, obscene or patently offensive.”

In a statement to NBC Chicago, Southwest Airlines said employees “are responsible for the well-being and comfort of everyone onboard the flight. We do our best to promote a family-centric environment, and we count on our customers to use good judgment and exercise discretion while traveling. Regarding our policies, each situation is very different, and our employees are responsible for following our Contract of Carriage.”

The airline said Eubanks was allowed to travel and it even refunded her fare “as a gesture of goodwill.”

“It just sucks because I feel like as a woman, especially a Black woman, my body is always being policed, over-sexualized,” Eubanks said. “And for the two employees to say that my breasts are obscene, lewd and offensive… that is directly tied to my womanhood, you know? Like I can’t leave them at home, I can’t change them, I’m not going pay to get them removed, I’m not going to get a breast reduction, so I can board a Southwest flight. A lot of people were like, ‘Don’t be difficult. You could’ve just put on the shirt.’ And I’m like, ‘I shouldn’t have to.’ My boarding a plane shouldn’t be left to someone else’s personal biases that doesn’t make sense to me… the double standards – it’s not fair, it’s not.”