Lesbian The L Word actress thrown off Southwest Airlines flight for kissing her girlfriend

By DAILY MAIL REPORTERS

The lesbian star of 'The L Word' claimed in a stream of Twitter messages last night that she and her girlfriend were kicked off a Southwest Airlines plane for kissing during the flight.

Leisha Hailey, 40, tweeted that a flight attendant had told her that Southwest 'was a "family" airline and kissing was not ok', and that she and her companion were then 'escorted off the plane for getting upset about the issue'.

'SouthwestAir endorses homophobic employees,' she tweeted. 'Since when is showing affection toward someone you love illegal? I want to know what Southwest Airlines considers a "family".'

She went on to tweet: 'Boycott SouthwestAir if you are gay. They don't like us.'

Hailey, who starred on Showtime network's 'The L Word' as Alice, a bisexual magazine writer and radio host, also demanded a public apology.

The 40-year-old has also had roles on Grey’s Anatomy, Drop Dead Diva and CSI and is part of the electropop duo band, Uh Huh Her.

She came out as a lesbian at age 17 and previously had a five year relationship with Canadian country singer K.D. Lang.

Personal identity: Leisha Hailey plays a bisexual magazine editor on 'The L Word' which centres around a group of lesbians and transgender people in LA

The airline issued a statement saying initial reports it received about the incident 'indicate that we received several passenger complaints characterizing the behaviour as excessive'.

'Our crew, responsible for the comfort of all customers on board, approached the passengers based solely on behaviour and not gender,' the airline said. 'The conversation escalated to a level that was better resolved on the ground, as opposed to in flight.'

The statement concluded: 'We regret any circumstance where a passenger does not have a positive experience on Southwest and we are ready to work directly with the passengers involved to offer our heartfelt apologies for falling short of their expectation.

An airline spokesman declined to comment beyond the prepared statement.

The incident comes a little over three weeks after another celebrity, Green Day rocker Billie Joe Armstrong, was complained he was booted from a Southwest flight in Oakland, California, because he was wearing his baggy pants too low.

Actor and director Kevin Smith also ran into trouble with the low-cost airline last year when he was kicked off a flight for being too fat.

The heavy star originally booked two seats, he jumped at the chance to fly standby on an earlier flight, where only one seat was available.

Though dress and size also seem to rile the airline, this is not the first time Southwest Airlines has been accused anti-gay remarks and actions.

RadarOnline.com previously reported, an unnamed pilot was heard over the radio — unaware it was on — complaining that his co-workers were 'a continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandes' he doesn't care to socialize with in between stops.

An hour before the airline posted a link to the statement on its Twitter page, Hailey was retweeting a comment calling attention to a page on the Southwest website where the airline had highlighted its 'outreach and commitment to the GLBT community'.

Southwest is the official airline of GLAAD and other similar groups.