You know, I’ve gotta be honest, I’m kind of speechless…
United fires flight attendant following jump seat talk
A former United Airlines flight attendant named Ruben Sanchez is fighting to get his job back, after he was fired. The 52-year-old had worked at the airline for 28 years, though his career quickly came crashing down, when the company started investigating him.
This whole situation came to light after a redeye flight on May 31, 2023, from Los Angeles (LAX) to Cleveland (CLE). He had been assigned the flight last minute, and in order to try and stay awake while exhausted, he engaged in what he describes as an innocent conversation with another flight attendant, who shared his Catholic faith.
Since it was May 31, Pride month was starting the following day, and Sanchez claims to have remarked how Pride month is “a big deal at United,” and how the airline “has all these things about Pride, with the Pride flags everywhere,” and has “drag-queen DJs.” Here’s what Sanchez went on to say, according to him:
“You know, as Catholics, we’re not really supposed to be observing Pride. The church will never believe that men give birth, women have penises or that the church should bless same-sex marriages because marriage is a sacrament, and it’s not meant for two men or two women or three people or whatever.”
Let me emphasize that this is his own version of the “innocent conversation” he was having, which seems wildly inappropriate as a discussion while on the job and in front of customers.
An unidentified passenger reportedly overheard the conversation, and then complained to the airline on Twitter/X. According to Sanchez, the person who complained accused him of saying “I hate all black people,” and “I am proudly anti-trans,” which he denies.
Initially Sanchez was suspended with pay, as the company investigated the accusations. However, at this point the company reviewed his long post history on Twitter/X, which revealed that Sanchez had posted a variety of controversial things to his account, while also obviously identifying himself as a United flight attendant, with photos of him in uniform.
Airlines of course all have employee social media policies, regarding what they’re allowed to post. Admittedly there’s a bit of a grey area, but the issue here is that he was identifying as a United flight attendant while also having quite the controversial online presence.
United took issue with this, and at that point Sanchez was fired. The union refused to help fight to get his job back. Sanchez has now set up a GoFundMe, with a campaign to “Help Defend Faith and Livelihood from Woke Employer & Union.”
This flight attendant is also openly gay
Perhaps the most interesting twist to all of this is that Sanchez is actually openly gay, though it seems he’s considering going back in the closet.
Look, I’m not trying to get too political, and I understand there are gay conservatives out there. But most gay conservatives I’ve heard from identify that way because they like some/most Republican policies, and believe (rightly or wrongly) that the party doesn’t oppose their rights.
Sanchez, on the other hand, is openly against gay marriage, saying it’s not meant for two men or two women. It’s a little odd for him to argue that “as Catholics, we’re not really supposed to be observing Pride.” Dude, as a Catholic, you’re also not supposed to be gay, if you’re one of those people who interprets things very literally.
But it seems like Sanchez might be dealing with a bit of an internal struggle as well. Just this year, he’s posting stuff like this online:
“I came ‘out’ as gay & put my faith in the closet. Maybe now I should live my faith ‘out’ and put my sexual proclivities in the ‘closet’.”
If you think being gay is a “sexual proclivity” that you should put back in the “closet,” then, well… oy. I don’t fully know what his posting history is, but just looking at his recent posts, I can certainly see how they could be interpreted as offensive.
Yep, I love showing off our hot “normal gays”, like… Aaron Schock, who spent the early part of his career as a Republican congressman voting against gay rights, prior to sort of coming out, and now seemingly spending half his time at raves. Yes, keep espousing those good Catholic values, and recognizing the “good” gays!
Anyway, I hope that Sanchez gets the help he needs, either through therapy or prayer or whatever. Honestly, I respect peoples’ rights to their sincerely held beliefs, but if you identify as gay and view your gayness as a “proclivity” that you can just stick back in the closet, well, then, those are some interesting mental gymnastics.
Bottom line
A former United Airlines flight attendant was fired following an investigation that started after a May 2023 flight. The (gay) Catholic flight attendant was apparently talking about his dislike of Pride month, and about who should have penises, and about how same-sex marriage is evil.
A passenger complained, and United then started investigating. The flight attendant ended up being fired, but he’s now trying to get his job back, as he’s angry about the religious discrimination he faced. He’s also considering putting his gayness back in the closet.
The biggest takeaways here are simple. Number one, don’t discuss religion or politics at work, especially in front of customers. Number two, if you’re going to be controversial online, don’t tie the account to one that identifies your employer, especially if they have a policy on social media use.
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