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Texas Governor Greg Abbott (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
An as-yet-unidentified 32-year-old man confronted Texas Governor Greg Abbott in the terminal of New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, suggesting that the the ultra-Republican politician should find a new final destination. “I hope you [expletive] go to hell because of your stance on gay marriage,” the man yelled, right after he shook Abbott’s hand. The man was scheduled to be on a JetBlue flight to Austin, Texas with Abbott, at least until he turned and said “I’m going to see you on the plane.”
Those eight words pretty much ensured that the man wasn’t going to see Abbott on the plane, because that’s when JetBlue security stepped in. The man was immediately informed that he’d be staying in New York for another night – at the airline’s expense – and put on the first flight to Austin the following morning. The Port Authority Police were also called to the airport, where they checked the man’s name against the Joint Terrorism Task Force database and learned that he did not have any kind of prior history of flight disruptions.
Abbott’s Communications Director Matt Hirsch, who was traveling with the governor, said:
The governor respects and is always willing to listen to the viewpoints of others. He’s grateful for the airport officials who handled the incident in a professional manner.
Abbott has been a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, even in his previous post as Texas’ Attorney General. Shortly after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage, Abbott quickly voiced his objections, writing that he would “continue to defend the religious liberties of all Texans — including those whose conscience dictates that marriage is only the union of one man and one woman.”
