EDMONTON, Alberta – Air Canada and WestJet have banned Canadian T-girl performers and activists Lexi Sanfino and Nina Arsenault after Sanfino protested a flight attendant’s apparent snub by baring her breasts.
The impromptu striptease took place June 20 aboard a WestJet flight from Toronto to Edmonton. The flight attendant allegedly requested makeup tips from the performers in a sarcastic fashion, adding “you know, because you used to be guys, right?” Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers detained Sanfino and Arsenault as they disembarked the plane. Sanfino was charged with creating a public disturbance; Arsenault was released without charges, though she said the Mounties deleted from her phone the video she shot during the arrest.
The performers learned of the ban when they tried to board a return flight to Toronto.
“There was a red code on our file saying we couldn’t board the plane,” Sanfino told the Toronto Star. “I guess we’re banned from flying. Or at least my breasts are. Maybe I’ll get them removed if they’re causing all these problems.”
Both airlines confirmed the ban, indicating Sanfino’s in-flight deployment of WMDs (womanly mounds of distraction) justified the action.
“These sanctions arise from their conduct on the flight in question and are imposed under the authority of our Local Domestic Tariffs,” WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer said.
Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick told the Toronto Star, “We do have provisions in our tariffs that permit us to decline service in order to ensure the comfort, convenience and safety of all our customers.”
Sanfino and Arsenault returned to Toronto by train.
“The people from VIA Rail were very familiar with what was going with us,” Sanfino told the Toronto Star. “They were very sweet and nice.”
Future travel to international locations may not be as easy, she admitted.
“I guess we’ll travel by canoe or boat,” Sanfino told the newspaper. “Maybe I can take up paragliding.”
[SIZE=1]Image: Nina Arsenault, presumably not in an airplane lavatory.[/SIZE]
