Air Nz Turns “gay” For Themed Flight

[peter991]

Air NZ turns “gay” for themed flight

Air New Zealand has announced it will operate its first “Pink Flight” from San Francisco to celebrate the 2008 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

The first North American pink flight will transport passengers in style with everything from pink drinks to drag queens expected in the line-up.

The 300 passengers who purchase tickets are encouraged to turn up to the airport in their most extravagant Mardi Gras costumes to take part in the going away party at the departure gate titled “Get-Onboard-Girlfriend!”

The entertainment continues onboard, with passengers expected to delight in live performances, on-board music, contests and screenings of classic gay-themed films on its in-flight entertainment system. Pink-themed food, cocktails, goodie bags and a “Party Party Wake-Up” before landing is included.

“Sydney Mardi Gras is one of the most spectacular costume events in the world, so we feel it’s only fitting to offer a flight that truly embodies the spirit of the celebration in an unforgettable way,” Air New Zealand’s vice president – the Americas, Roger Poulton said.

“Air New Zealand takes pride in our gay-friendliness and sense of fun, so this Pink Flight will be a blast for everyone involved!”

Visitors can book their tickets on a special microsite dedicated to the Pink Flight: www.airnewzealand.com/pinkflight

Comment: Why - why - why -- does Air New Zealand continue the outdated stereotype of gay people this way?

Peter

[ProThaiExpat]

Peter991: I trust your question is not rhetorical?

I think it is a cultural thing. One of the reasons I love Australia so much is that it takes me back to when I was growing up in America, values, culture, attitude of the people to each other, etc. Perhaps NZ is likewise in that time warp.

I much prefered the 50's of America when I grew up there than what it is now and Australia is there IMHO, except for gay rights of course. Perhaps NZ is still culturally in the same time warp. I have never been there but Aussies tend to suggest in subtle ways that New Zealanders are backward compared to Australia.

Tom Neal is my favorite actor and he lives in New Zealand. I need to get there so I have experience to back up my "off the wall" comments.

[PeaceBlondie]

Peter, you're right about continuing the stereotype of the overwrought, overly femme, overly dramatic queen, etc. I may have hid in the shadows of that stereotype (in the closet), but now that I'm out of the closet, I wish to portray an image that's more macho without being violent, more caring than indifferent or flighty. I hoped the movie Philadelphia would show that even successful lawyers could be gay! Maybe that's why I've written a double novel about a successful gay lawyer and human rights activist.

[farang prince]

Peter, PB, the more I read the article, the madder I got. And wait until you see the news clip from this "historic" flight...every gay stereotype in the book...and the general public will see this and shake their heads and wonder how people could be so weird. Pink drinks? What...Pepto-Bismol? Sweet Jesus...how can Air New Zealand think that this is cool? Wait until one of the 300-pound "drag queens" dressed in an outrageous Mardi Gras costume wants to enter the cockpit and do the pilot and co-pilot!!!! And for our guys who like bathroom sex, there will be nothing like cruising the johns on this flight!!! I want to be a million miles away from this disaster.

[endure]

Before it closed I used to stay at a guesthouse in Chiang Mai that regularly threw parties for its guests. I was at one of their parties one night with the boyfriend. There were a couple of German guys staying there who turned up in major drag which really really didn't suit them. I sniggered at them to the BF. I'll never forget his reply - 'Why you laugh? They make sanuk. They happy'. He made me feel quite ashamed of myself. I've no doubt that there'll be those of our brethren who think that the 'Pink Flight' is the best thing since sliced bread and will be at the front of the queue when tickets go on sale. They're going to the Mardi Gras - probably the campest show on earth! Why you laugh? They make sanuk. They happy.

[jonniebkk]

likely their marketing guru who thought up this promotion is some pathetic straight guy and this is what he thinks all gay people are like/want. i am sure it would turn off many more gay men than it would attract. will likely attract many fag-hag customers to the flight, however.

[farang prince]

The "Castro Commandoes" will love it. They are the flamboyant fag hags that love to pull outrageous stunts at the Gay Pride Parade in SF.

What this actually underscores is the huge dissimilitude in the gay community...those folks that want to flaunt their gayness to the point of outrageousness and force society to deal with it and those that want to show that gays are responsible ordinary people who live quiet lives and want nothing more than society to leave them alone.

Edited September 19, 2007 by farang prince

[endure]

It was the flamboyant queens who forced the issue in the US in the first place. It wasn't responsible ordinary people that rioted at Stonewall. Here in the UK we didn't have Stonewall, we had a civil servant called John Wolfenden

[Scott]

It also helps make sure that no homophobic, straight couple with their 2 kids and their Bible accidently get on the plane!

That plane won't go down anyway--not with that many fairies on board!

[mikethevigoman]

Why dont they call it the pink and brown flight !

[PeaceBlondie]

Why dont they call it the pink and brown flight !

Maybe because then they'd be catering to the homophobic gaybashers who are so anally obsessed about anal intercourse that they can't stop talking about it. So now let's stop talking about the subject that MiketheVigoMan brought up.

[Steve2UK]

It was the flamboyant queens who forced the issue in the US in the first place. It wasn't responsible ordinary people that rioted at Stonewall. Here in the UK we didn't have Stonewall, we had a civil servant called John Wolfenden

Totally of course, but my favourite joke from that period:

Civil Servant: And what should we do about the Homosexual Bill, Prime Minister?

PM: Oh - just pay it.

[mikethevigoman]

Why dont they call it the pink and brown flight !

Maybe because then they'd be catering to the homophobic gaybashers who are so anally obsessed about anal intercourse that they can't stop talking about it. So now let's stop talking about the subject that MiketheVigoMan brought up.

Im not a homophobic gaybasher,.it was a joke,.....im sure there are some gays that would chuckle ! or id hope so, no offence,.

[endure]

Why dont they call it the pink and brown flight !

Maybe because then they'd be catering to the homophobic gaybashers who are so anally obsessed about anal intercourse that they can't stop talking about it. So now let's stop talking about the subject that MiketheVigoMan brought up.

Im not a homophobic gaybasher,.it was a joke,.....im sure there are some gays that would chuckle ! or id hope so, no offence,.

Unfortunately we've heard all the brown jokes before. They weren't funny the first time round...

[PeaceBlondie]

It's kind of like the jokes where Black people can call each other the N word if they wish. We can make brown jokes amongst ourselves if we wish, but when straight people bring it up out of the blue, it's like flinging poo in our faces. I thought it might be a funny joke to remind straight people that they seem more obsessed about the subject than many of us are, and that some of them do it with their wife. But it's not kosher (or gentile) to talk about what men do with their wives, behind closed doors, is it? Why, then, do straight gaybashers who insist they aren't gaybashing, feel compelled to come onto a gay forum and remind the world what we may choose to do behind closed doors?

Enough of the soap box preaching. I'm glad that the New Zealand airline is gay friendly, and catering to at least one of the (minority) segments within the gay community. The boys can dress like girls on the flight, hallelujah. Now if we could just get more employers to be tolerant enough to protect gay rights in the workplace.

[ProThaiExpat]

PeaceBlondie: I hope I am not going too astray, but I was intrigued by your last post. It stuck a responsive chord as I have always wondered why one of the most derogatory epithets that a straight man can throw at any other man is "c--k s----r", when that is the very act they enjoy so much from their wives and girlfriends. But then again, straight men have many derogatory names for females that they profess to "love", the most common being "bitch", and unlike the gay use of that word meaning "shrew", the word they use carries the meaning female dog.

Clearly any reference to poo is derogatory and excretory functions are generally considered "unmentionable" in most polite societies. Part of the "vulgarization" of America and elsewhere is bathroom humor, which is so prevalent today in mainstream media. Yet, I have read that in upper class British society in the 18th and 19th centuries, excretory humor was quite common and permitted.

Perhaps gay men are as intolerant of "differences" as straight men, except when gays who are different are attacked by straight men and then we rise to the defense of the "different group" because they are gay or "family". Most police or other professional family squabble interventionists will tell you that a bitter fight between two people who profess to love each other will quickly turn to a joint counter-attack on an outsider who is interfering.

What do you think, guys, are gays more tolerant in their "hearts" of "differences" within the gay community (when they are not under attack, than straights are of gays who are markedly "different" than the ideal straight model?

Edited September 21, 2007 by ProThaiExpat

[endure]

I think that gays are no different than any other minority. We're quite happy to bicker amongst ourselves unless threatened by (in our case) the straight majority. When that happens we become a community willing to forget its differences and defend itself as a family.

[wowpow]

I don't really understand why Air NZ is being castigated for offering a gay ride to Sydney for the Gay Mardi Gras Parade.

There are gay hotels, restaurants, cruises. bars, brothels, ghettos, shops. holidays etc.. Why is an airflight different?

[Rionoir]

They are celebrating the 2008 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras... and some of you wonder why they are catoring this flight to the femmy and queeny homos? Hello, you do know what Mardi Gras is right? Like the most flamboyent celebration there is... and GAY Mardi Gras??? Wow, sounds like they hit the nail on the head... that's what mardi gras is all about. If you are a boring homebody, that's fine... but Mardi Gras probably isn't your thing to begin with.

[wizemen2]

I sure hope there are a new batch of "Trolly Dollies" coming throught the ranks to man this flight, as most of the dears I knew are retired now or own restaurants or are too pissed to care!

Such tragedy!!!

Air NZ turns "gay" for themed flight

Air New Zealand has announced it will operate its first "Pink Flight" from San Francisco to celebrate the 2008 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

The first North American pink flight will transport passengers in style with everything from pink drinks to drag queens expected in the line-up.

The 300 passengers who purchase tickets are encouraged to turn up to the airport in their most extravagant Mardi Gras costumes to take part in the going away party at the departure gate titled "Get-Onboard-Girlfriend!"

The entertainment continues onboard, with passengers expected to delight in live performances, on-board music, contests and screenings of classic gay-themed films on its in-flight entertainment system. Pink-themed food, cocktails, goodie bags and a "Party Party Wake-Up" before landing is included.

"Sydney Mardi Gras is one of the most spectacular costume events in the world, so we feel it's only fitting to offer a flight that truly embodies the spirit of the celebration in an unforgettable way," Air New Zealand's vice president – the Americas, Roger Poulton said.

"Air New Zealand takes pride in our gay-friendliness and sense of fun, so this Pink Flight will be a blast for everyone involved!"

Visitors can book their tickets on a special microsite dedicated to the Pink Flight: www.airnewzealand.com/pinkflight

Comment: Why - why - why -- does Air New Zealand continue the outdated stereotype of gay people this way?

Peter

[krobbie]

The last Plink Flight like this that Air NZ had, was sold out in in just weeks.

They ask among the staff, as to who wants to do the flight and they have no end of crew up for the challenge.

It is a resounding success.

Who would rather sit for 14 hours on the plane packed with Jo & Joanne average and the kids, when you could have a ball with mates instead?

As for sterotyping. I guess YOU won't be at the Mardis Gras anyway. The whole deal is so stereotypical in it's wonderful wierdness. From bears to Marys, muscles to queens, everyone is their to celebrate their gayness.

Or you could sit at home tut tutting and knitting I nice jumper for winter. Up to you.

krobbie