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The Story That Started a Movement...
Recounted by Waymon Hudson, President of Fight OUT Loud:
Early on the morning of May 1, 2007, around 1 am, my partner and I were returning home
to Fort Lauderdale from vacation in Chicago. Our flight was delayed, so we were the last
group of passengers (around 20 or so) at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport.
While waiting for our luggage in the baggage claim area, we heard these words come over
the PA system loud and clear, “A man that lies with a man as with a woman should be
put to death.” A few minutes later, the same recording played over the loud speaker
again. We were understandably shocked and frightened.
We looked around for a security guard, airport employee, or TSA agent, but we were
unable to find anyone because it was so late and everything was closed. We quickly
gathered our bags and went to our car, nervous to be alone in a dark parking garage after
hearing what we assumed was a death threat against us.
The next morning, we called the airport to report the incident. The airport manager seemed
disinterested in the threat and simply said "sorry for the inconvenience." After the tepid
response from the manager, we contacted our county commissioner, as well as a local news
station. We also contacted various web sites and blogs about our experience, including
Pam’s House Blend and Towleroad (who were amazing in their support!) to try and get
some help.
The next day, we received phone calls from airport officials telling us that they were doing
an investigation, a very different reaction now that the media had picked up the story. Soon,
every local media outlet and newspaper carried the story. The online world also started
buzzing, and our experience was soon being picked up both nationally and internationally.
A few nights later, we received a call from the police saying that they were able to locate the
person who made the announcement and that he confessed. The man was Jethro
Monestine, a skycap for Superior Aircraft Services, who worked in the baggage claim area.
After seeing the intense media coverage, a co-worker turned him in, fearing they too would
be in trouble. Monestine said that he downloaded the recording onto his cell phone and
played it over the intercom as a “prank”. He also claimed not be directing it at us, saying he
was “bored between flights and just wanted to have some fun”. He was eventually fired, but
no charges were filed against him for what can only be seen as making a death threat over
the PA at a major US airport.
The intense media coverage, as well as the religious aspect of the recording, led to a large
amount of negative feedback and hate-mail being directed towards us. Adding to this
backlash was some skewed and sensationalistic reporting of our story, which included
headlines that focused on the “bible verse” aspect of this incident, not the threat (one such
example: “Prankster fired for playing bible verse that offended gays”). This opened us up
for attack from a number of conservative groups, blogs, and radio shows. Websites and
open forums began to fill with personal attacks directed at us. Every anti-gay slur, threat of
damnation and condemnation of us that you could imagine appeared. Our motives, names,
and even our appearance were viciously attacked.
The media coverage made us public enemy #1 for the extreme religious movement. A few
days after they identified Monestine, a woman stopped me in our neighborhood grocery
store and said, “Didn’t I see you on the news?” I said yes, and she looked me in the eye
and replied, “You faggots deserve exactly what that man said.” The next day, my car
windshield had “FAG!” scrawled across it. I was so concerned that I ended up driving
around our neighborhood so no one could follow me home. My partner received hate mail
at his work. We even had dubious–looking people lurking around our house and looking in
our windows. It reached the point where a woman again came up to me in the grocery
store, but this time she spit in my face and called me “sinful faggot.” The backlash reached
a level where it became dangerous and made us fear for our safety. We ended up having
the police pass by our home every few hours for days because the threats grew so violent.
This whole event really woke us up to the amount of hate that people are still capable of
directing towards the GLBT community. We received numerous stories from people around
the country telling us their own horror stories of discrimination and not being taken
seriously. As with our own story, a lot of smaller incidents of discrimination and hate
seemed to fall through the cracks, leaving many people to fend for themselves. Having
gone through such an eye-opening experience, and finding that there were really very few
resources available to LGBT individuals who needed immediate help in situations like ours,
we decided to fight back. This inspired us to form a national non-profit organization called
Fight OUT Loud.
While the experience of the airport and the ensuing backlash may have been difficult, it was
probably one of the best things that could have ever happened to me. It changed my life,
got me involved, and started an amazing organization that is helping people across the
country.
Recounted by Waymon Hudson, President of Fight OUT Loud:
Early on the morning of May 1, 2007, around 1 am, my partner and I were returning home
to Fort Lauderdale from vacation in Chicago. Our flight was delayed, so we were the last
group of passengers (around 20 or so) at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport.
While waiting for our luggage in the baggage claim area, we heard these words come over
the PA system loud and clear, “A man that lies with a man as with a woman should be
put to death.” A few minutes later, the same recording played over the loud speaker
again. We were understandably shocked and frightened.
We looked around for a security guard, airport employee, or TSA agent, but we were
unable to find anyone because it was so late and everything was closed. We quickly
gathered our bags and went to our car, nervous to be alone in a dark parking garage after
hearing what we assumed was a death threat against us.
The next morning, we called the airport to report the incident. The airport manager seemed
disinterested in the threat and simply said "sorry for the inconvenience." After the tepid
response from the manager, we contacted our county commissioner, as well as a local news
station. We also contacted various web sites and blogs about our experience, including
Pam’s House Blend and Towleroad (who were amazing in their support!) to try and get
some help.
The next day, we received phone calls from airport officials telling us that they were doing
an investigation, a very different reaction now that the media had picked up the story. Soon,
every local media outlet and newspaper carried the story. The online world also started
buzzing, and our experience was soon being picked up both nationally and internationally.
A few nights later, we received a call from the police saying that they were able to locate the
person who made the announcement and that he confessed. The man was Jethro
Monestine, a skycap for Superior Aircraft Services, who worked in the baggage claim area.
After seeing the intense media coverage, a co-worker turned him in, fearing they too would
be in trouble. Monestine said that he downloaded the recording onto his cell phone and
played it over the intercom as a “prank”. He also claimed not be directing it at us, saying he
was “bored between flights and just wanted to have some fun”. He was eventually fired, but
no charges were filed against him for what can only be seen as making a death threat over
the PA at a major US airport.
The intense media coverage, as well as the religious aspect of the recording, led to a large
amount of negative feedback and hate-mail being directed towards us. Adding to this
backlash was some skewed and sensationalistic reporting of our story, which included
headlines that focused on the “bible verse” aspect of this incident, not the threat (one such
example: “Prankster fired for playing bible verse that offended gays”). This opened us up
for attack from a number of conservative groups, blogs, and radio shows. Websites and
open forums began to fill with personal attacks directed at us. Every anti-gay slur, threat of
damnation and condemnation of us that you could imagine appeared. Our motives, names,
and even our appearance were viciously attacked.
The media coverage made us public enemy #1 for the extreme religious movement. A few
days after they identified Monestine, a woman stopped me in our neighborhood grocery
store and said, “Didn’t I see you on the news?” I said yes, and she looked me in the eye
and replied, “You faggots deserve exactly what that man said.” The next day, my car
windshield had “FAG!” scrawled across it. I was so concerned that I ended up driving
around our neighborhood so no one could follow me home. My partner received hate mail
at his work. We even had dubious–looking people lurking around our house and looking in
our windows. It reached the point where a woman again came up to me in the grocery
store, but this time she spit in my face and called me “sinful faggot.” The backlash reached
a level where it became dangerous and made us fear for our safety. We ended up having
the police pass by our home every few hours for days because the threats grew so violent.
This whole event really woke us up to the amount of hate that people are still capable of
directing towards the GLBT community. We received numerous stories from people around
the country telling us their own horror stories of discrimination and not being taken
seriously. As with our own story, a lot of smaller incidents of discrimination and hate
seemed to fall through the cracks, leaving many people to fend for themselves. Having
gone through such an eye-opening experience, and finding that there were really very few
resources available to LGBT individuals who needed immediate help in situations like ours,
we decided to fight back. This inspired us to form a national non-profit organization called
Fight OUT Loud.
While the experience of the airport and the ensuing backlash may have been difficult, it was
probably one of the best things that could have ever happened to me. It changed my life,
got me involved, and started an amazing organization that is helping people across the
country.
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