NAME.....Mr. Gay
CODE.....TR8706
ORIGIN...Unknown
STATUS...False

An airline engineer named Mr. Gay boarded an aircraft using his company pass. Finding that his designated seat was occupied and not wanting to cause a fuss, Mr. Gay sat down in an unoccupied seat nearby. Just before they were due to takeoff, another flight was cancelled, and the flight attendants were told that all non-paying passengers would have to disembark to make room for ticketed customers from the cancelled flight.

A flight attendant approached the man sitting in Mr. Gay's designated seat and asked, "Excuse me sir, are you Gay?"

The man, looking very surprised, answered, "Well, yes I am"

The flight attendant then responded, "I'm sorry sir, you will not be able to take this flight. Please collect your belongings and depart the aircraft."

The real Mr. Gay overheard the conversation and quickly interrupted, "I'm Gay". The flight attendant then instructed Mr. Gay that he would have to leave the aircraft.

Another man, observing the whole situation, suddenly stood up and defiantly announced, "I'm gay too. Heck, you can't throw us all off!"

Summary

I found myself hitting a brick wall on every turn trying to research the origins of 'Mr. Gay', so I seeked assistance from the respected 'Godfather' of UL research, Prof. Jan H Brunvand. Replying to the E-Mail I sent him, he informed me that he cannot remember where he heard it first, but believes that it may have originated in Australia as well as the US. Prof. J H Brunvand went on to say that he believes that this story is more of a joke than a legend, and would be told as a joke, with some attempt at "Gay Speech Patterns" by many people.
I am also of the opinion that this is more of a joke than a legend, and the witty 'play on words' formula of this story would not look out of place on a TV comedy sketch show.

Final Thoughts

A similar version to this legend can be found in Prof. Jan H Brunvand's book titled 'Too Good Too Be True', page 122.

If any of you guys have any further information on the background of this UL, be sure to let me know!