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United Airlines Banned Two Girls From Boarding A Flight Because They Wore Leggings

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This story is still developing, but United–delivering on its brand promise as America’s absolute worst airline–has apparently added sexist nonsense to its many other sins. A gate agent reportedly banned young girls from boarding a flight from Denver to Minneapolis because they were wearing grey leggings.

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Shannon Watts, the founder of gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, tweeted the following from the Denver gate, where she was waiting to board a flight to Mexico:

Watts later clarified that the young girls were white, and one of them was only 10 years old.

As is United’s wont, they responded with risible, tone-deaf customer service, tweeting the following response to Watts:

They then blanket-tweeted this response to all further inquiries.

Eventually, someone with basic PR experience must have been called over, and United offered this more specific, concrete explanation for their treatment of the girls:

Watts had the perfect response:

Whatever type of ticket these girls had, it’s still trash behavior to police the clothing of 10-year-olds. And yes, there are much bigger issues with U.S. airlines right now: the Muslim ban (2.0), “random” screenings, the TSA’s sexual-assault body searches, etc. But this is still an egregious example of the ways that girls are randomly policed and inappropriately sexualized. This is how we teach girls that their comfort is disgusting, that their shame should be paramount, and that their bodies are not their own.

I expected about a thousand tweets of leggings-wearing women on United’s competitors in 3,2…

(Via Twitter and Washington Post; image via Shutterstock)

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