Air New Zealand has landed itself in hot water after showing an in-flight safety film which has prompted complaints from gay people.
The film shows a plane full of rugby fans watching a safety demonstration that involves some All-Blacks players and a rather camp cabin crew member.
At one point, the attendant offers All Blacks centre Richard Kahui the chance to give him a peck on the cheek which the beefy player shyly turns down.
The carrier has had to pull the film after howls of protest from the gay community. Operations and safety manager David Morgan is reported as saying that one of the complaints came from a professor who believed the film could lead to gay suicides.
Morgan told New Zealand’s Dominion Post newspaper: "When we created this video and discussed the scene featuring a gay male flight attendant and a rugby player with key stakeholders, including a number of the gay community, we received none of the feedback we have in the past week.
"The scene was not something that we, the people we tested the scene with, or indeed the participants in the scene, viewed as distasteful or likely to cause concern."
The story has attracted much online comment, many from the gay community who have labelled the outcry “ridiculous”.
by Dinah Hatch
