A gay man from North Carolina was recently detained after a flight from New York to Raleigh-Durham airport, when a flight attendant reported him for allegedly touching his son inappropriately during the flight.
Henry Amador-Batten, a 52-year-old foster father, was flying with 5-year-old son, Benjamin. They were on their way home having come from Puerto Rico after visiting Henry’s dad who had recently passed away.
According to a Facebook post by Henry’s husband, one of the flight attendants made a complaint about how close Henry was to his son’s genitals during the flight. The post read:
“Tonight my husband was detained after disembarking a United flight to RDU because a member of the flight crew made an accusation that my husband’s hand/arm laying across my sleeping son’s lap was too close to the child’s genitals. After being made to feel like a criminal in front of other passengers as they exited the plane my husband filed a report of his own mentioning that the male flight attendant that must have accused him had treated him oddly in flight, and was promptly sent on his way.”
Later, he added, “The treatment by both the flight attendant and the captain were absolutely mean-spirited and completely unacceptable.”
The post concludes: “This misguided man’s assumptions about my husband and the accusations that he made are completely unfounded and we plan on getting up bright and early in the morning to make as much f*****g noise about this as I possibly can.”
Jonathon Guerin, a United Airlines spokesperson, said in a email “Our customers should always be treated with the utmost respect. “We have followed up with the customer directly and we apologised for the situation.”
The couple have received overwhelming support within the Facebook community as they wait to see what happens.
