Denis O'Hare and partner had airport troubles

[Craig]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 12:08am

Interesting story
Airport Troubles

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 12:13am

Wow, what a horrible thing to have happen. Although I understand the need for security, and the no-joking thing, this sounds like it was blown entirely out of proportion by security officials.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 12:15am

The title of the article kind of irks me. Why couldn't they use his name instead of "Gay Actor"?

[RockabyeHamlet]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 12:17am

wow... thats ludicrous...

[Craig]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 12:17am

I believe it's because the article was syndicated from a gay magazine. Not that it makes a difference...

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 12:20am

ya i really don't understand why they even had to bring up that he was gay. it had nothing to do with the incident at the airport.


Updated On: 11/2/05 at 12:20 AM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 12:20am

I've just accepted that TSA is the new Gestapo, so nothing they do really surprises me at this point.

[Craig]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 12:30am

"ya i really don't understand why they even had to bring up that he was gay. it had nothing to do with the incident at the airport. "

If you look at the byline, you'll see this is a story that ran in a gay publication. I'm sure the headline was to reflect the original audience the article was written for.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 12:33am

This almost sounds like a bad "L" word episode.

Granted, in these times, even joking abuot terrorism is dangerous (which is a whole different discussion), but charging him with a crime for a joke . . . give me a friggin break.

I wonder if they were married in a state that accepted civil unions, or in a country that recognized gay marriage, would the officer be so damn smug.

This is just getting so over the top that it would be funny, if not for the innocent people caught in the middle of it.

Note: my grandmother called, she got pulled aside for a secondary screening, and was giving a fully body cavity search. She joked about Joseph McCarthy, and someone thought she said Osama Bin Laden.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 12:38am

"I think it was one guy who didn't like something about us, or urban-ness, or maybe he thought I wasn't properly respectful or whatever," O'Hare told the PlanetOut Network."

Well, without quite saying it (though "urban-ness" comes close), I'm sure O'Hare rightly wonders whether the fact they are an openly gay interracial couple perhaps played a factor in them being singled out here. It's a hard case to win, but I do hope that they sue for harassment.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 1:06am

I really don't think that was the case, this was the line before it:

"Neither O'Hare nor Redwood believes his treatment was racially motivated (Redwood is African-American), nor do they think it was motivated by homophobia."

If either of them actually suspected it was homophobia, it would have been discussed much more at length, especially in PlanetOut. It's just another case of the TSA getting drunk off their power and the government letting them. They just happened to get attention for it because of Denis O'Hare's name.

Updated On: 11/2/05 at 01:06 AM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 1:10am

"...For the first time I feel like leaving the country," he said. "America is becoming a nightmare with the permanent war culture brought on by this president. I don't recognize my country." Denis O'Hare


Well if they do decide to leave the USA they will be most welcome in Canada. And here thay can legally marry, as well!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 1:13am

I don't understand the whole running away to Canada thing. Then there are 2 less people to vote against the next crazy Republican that comes along.

[SirLiir]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 1:55am

Well I am out of the loop it seems. I thought Denis O'Hare was married. I did know he was gay lol

Anyway, it is a bit much to say the least for anyone to be treated like that. Airport security seems to be plagued with people who use their power to make others miserable, just because their jobs are low-paying.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 2:08am

While the TSA worker seemed to be a little over zealous, I can't say O'Hare and his partner were not without fault in all of this. As some people above have mentioned, joking about terrorism in an airport is a big no-no (and rightfully so). Perhaps the "stern warning" the one worker was going to issue would have been enough.

Neither O'Hare nor his partner seem to think the event was racially or sexually motivated. It seems they were objecting to the treatment they received in detention. Aside from charging them with a crime (which I completlely disagree with), I don't fault the TSA workers that much. The comments made by O'Hare's partner were stupid , and I'm glad they were looked into. Better to be safe than sorry.

I would be interested to read another article/account of this incident from another publication. This tone of this article has a clear slant to it, and it's hard to discern what actually happened.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 9:54am

orangeskittles, Americans in Canada are still able to vote against Republicans.

[yodamarie78]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 10:08am

The thing is "I guess we must be terrorist suspects," isn't the sort of comment that warrents an investigation in my opinion. It barely deserved the initial "stern warning."

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 10:34am

I did alot of air travel the past year, and it's been my experience and this IS a generalization, but the folks working security are not exactly Rhodes scholars. That being said, I find that wearing my "The Price Is Right" t-short wins me alot of friends in airport security. I never fly without it!

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 10:44am

I find wearing my "What would Jesus bomb" t-shirt serves the same purpose.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 12:30pm

Apparently, the First Amendment to the Constitution means nothing to republicans. He didn't say I'm a Terrorist" or anything remotely similarily. What he said was "I guess they think we're terrorists" which most certainly is not a security threat. It's a statement of perceived fact. I'm so repulsed by this administration thinking they have the right to deny Americans guaranteed RIGHTS in the name of terrorism, and the crony judges they appoint to uphold their absurd and illegal policies. Scalia is a hack, but you know he's right when you actually agree with him (in the Hamdi case where he harshly rejected the admin.'s claim that the President can detain whomever he wants in the name of terrorism). I really hope O'Hare fights this and that the ACLU steps in to give it a higher profile. This is just another reason we should have let the South secede. Can we force them out of the union???

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 1:11pm

How do you know the TSA workers responsible for detaining O'Hare and his partner were Republicans? I always thought of airport security as a non-partisan thing. Do the TSA employees now wear badges identifying their political affiliation?

Posted: 11/2/05 at 1:18pm

One lesson to learn is: On most airlines (Southwest is one of them), it's an automatic security search if you buy a one way ticket.

I was recently on a promotional bus tour for work and we would drive to one city, but have to fly to the next city if it was too far to drive, thus we had many an airport visit with one-way tickets. The first time, we were all a bit miffed, until security asked us what we were doing (there was 22 of us!). They told us the one-way ticket thing, and were very cool about it. It became rather routine and some airport security were actually really fun, subtle joking, impressed we knew the routine, etc.

That's what suprises me about this incident, at such a small airport too. I think they are kidding themselves if they think it wasn't motivated by something personal (race/gay).

Just my opinion. Sorry it happened.

[M J R]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 1:22pm

I don't understand the whole running away to Canada thing. Then there are 2 less people to vote against the next crazy Republican that comes along.

I understand it. You can only rage against this horrible government for so long before you realize we don't have a lot of time on this earth - and that time should be spent in love, not in war - in acceptance, not in hate.

Canada is looking better and better to me every day!

[Elizadoolittle6]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 1:32pm

I agree. I think that "something personal", is probably the combo-fact that they are a gay interacial couple. The tsa agent probably was thinging.... "how dare you bring your sin and crap here for all of virginia to see." I lived in the south and racism and sexism are stronger than ever. I have the feeling if it was a white business man in a suit and a briefcase nothing would have been done.

F&@# our piece of crap president and his worthless group of flunkies. WE WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK. Not your version of the courty called Bibleonia.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 1:33pm

Except that neither O'Hare nor his partner felt the event was racially or sexually motivated. They both say so in the article.