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Back in November, I wrote about a United Airlines flight attendant who had been fired after reportedly having an anti-gay conversation with another flight attendant in the galley. Digging in a bit more, it looks like his social media posts might have been what ultimately did him in, though. The kicker: the flight attendant making the derogatory comments is also gay. Since being terminated, he’s tried to rally conservative figures like Ann Coulter and Elon Musk while raising almost $20,000 through GoFundMe to sue United Airlines.
Ruben Sanchez, age 52, was terminated from his 28-year tenure as a flight attendant after an incident on a flight in May 2023 caused a customer to report him. During the redeye from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) he struck up a conversation with a colleague around their shared Catholic faith and his views around Pride Month (which began the day after the incident). The chat was apparently offensive to a passenger within earshot who reported that Sanchez said, “I hate all black people,” and “I am proudly anti-trans.” He denies these allegations, but his quote to The New York Post is also not filled with sunshine and rainbows. He’s quoted as saying:
You know, as Catholics, we’re not really supposed to be observing Pride. The church will never believe that men give birth, women have penises or that the church should bless same-sex marriages because marriage is a sacrament, and it’s not meant for two men or two women or three people or whatever. That’s all I said.”
Let’s break this down a bit. Pride is a celebration of love, liberty, and the right for LGBTQI+ people to live and remain visible. I was raised a Catholic and have veered away from organized religion while remaining spiritual. I’m also a gay man with a partner of 24 years (18 years of that time married). To my knowledge, the Catholic church has not said that Pride month is an issue or that parishioners should avoid it. I have not seen anything come from the Vatican to outwardly support this stance. It doesn’t support same sex marriage and I’m fine with that. It’s a shame, but if religious doctrine makes folks believe that than so be it. LGBTQI+ people want legal rights offered to heterosexual couples by the government and church should be kept separate. Further, whether or not you support trans individuals, you should not be expressing your views on customers while on the clock.
I want to express my sincere appreciation & gratitude to @ElonMusk and @X for choosing to help me in my fight for justice. I am suing both @united and @afa_cwa for ending my career and livelihood for being a Roman Catholic and American Patriot on X/Twitter.
I also want to… pic.twitter.com/S6XktHTSYS
— Ruben D. Sanchez Jr (@rdsanchezjr) February 1, 2025
Sanchez now says he wants his job back. His post from Saturday thanks Elon Musk and X for helping him with his fight. It’s unclear whether Musk or X is actually assisting with funding. United claims that he was terminated over 35 posts from his X account that demonstrated a lack of dignity, respect, and professionalism.
At @United, you can talk about sexual proclivities in private conversations, but you can't talk about Christianity! @X ##CancelCulture #Woke #CatholicX #CatholicTwitter https://t.co/DbGA1PzeWC
— Ruben D. Sanchez Jr (@rdsanchezjr) November 22, 2024
The lawsuit further alleges that the “termination of Sanchez’ employment was substantially motivated by United’s disagreement with Sanchez’ political beliefs [and] served as an implicit warning and message to United’s other employees that the expression of views departing from liberal perspectives on race, political figures, the transgender movement, and public health issues would not be tolerated.”
Sanchez is currently working as an active-duty member of the Air National Guard in Alaska while he awaits his day in court. Apparently, he does not have the support of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), which is the flight attendant’s union that represents United’s employees and will be going this one alone (aside from whatever support he receives from his fundraising efforts).
Anthony’s Take: If this past election has taught me anything, it’s that we are a nation that is sharply divided. Regardless of whether you’re jubilant or despondent around the results of the election, the United States was built around free speech. But, there are limits. Words have consequences and you can’t be controversial online and not expect it to come back to haunt you and potentially cost you your employment if what you post goes against a company’s policies.
(Featured Image Credit: @rdsanchezjr via X.)
(H/T: Paddle Your Own Kanoo.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
