Aussie Airline Apologizes For 'I Am Gay' Sticker on Luggage

An Australian-based airline has apologized to a stay-at-home dad and are investigating the incident where its employees taped "I am gay" in stickers on his suitcase.

According to an article on the Huffington Post, a stay-at-home dad was traveling on Jetstar, a discount subsidiary airline of Qantas in Australia and New Zealand, when he discovered at the baggage carousel at the Perth Airport that his luggage had been defaced, possibly by a Jetstar employee.

The father of two, who has identified himself as 'Aaron,' as noted in an article on The Atlantic Wire, said on Twitter that the incident made him realize the discrimination that LGBTs face.

"I am a white heterosexual male. This trifecta of privilege means that I'm not routinely subjected to prejudice," he wrote in an Oct. 12 Twitter post. "But for a few minutes I got to walk in the shoes of a gay person in a public place. For no good reason I had had a slur marked over my luggage. I was degraded. I was shamed. I was humiliated."

"For me, this was only a few minutes of one day of my life," wrote 'Aaron.' "If what I felt for those few minutes is extrapolated out every day over a lifetime, then I can fully understand why our gay friends feel persecuted and why they have such high rates of suicide. It is unacceptable."

Although some were offended that the man considered being called "gay" an insult, they were glad to hear that the airline had apologized, and initiated an investigation.

"We are taking this matter very seriously and we have contacted the passenger to apologize for any distress caused," Jetstar said in a statement.