A wise philosopher named Arlo Guthrie – OK, so he’s the guy who wrote “Alice’s Restaurant” – once sang that if 50 people a day join in something it’s a movement.

Friends, as Arlo would say, we are on the brink of such a movement with hundreds writing letters protesting United Airlines forcing Mary Campos out of her seat at John Wayne Airport because of her gender.

Some, however, go much further than letters. Some are taking to the streets, er, skies.

The unlikeliest of protesters: Dean Bosche, a business development executive and digital wunderkind who happened to read an online version of my column that reported how United reseated Campos after two Buddhist monks said they couldn’t be near a woman.

The time: Early October. The place: Sydney, Australia. On a cool morning squeezing in a run on Bondi Beach before his flight to San Francisco, Bosche’s endorphins start to fire. He gets to thinking surely there was a better way for United to handle the Campos situation.

To press a point, he decides to make a formal request to United saying that he, too, can’t sit near a human being because of their gender. Except, Bosche, a bit of an iconoclast, writes that he can’t sit near a man.

That’s right, a man.

Understand, Bosche isn’t alone in his outrage. Emails, overwhelmingly in support of Campos, continue to pour in. On Wednesday alone, I received more than 20.

Yes, an organized campaign is brewing.

On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors will review ways to prohibit airlines from gender discrimination.

SECRET DISCRIMINATION

An entrepreneur, software expert and mountaineer, Bosche goes deep when he plunges into something.

Also a backcountry skier, Bosche is certified in avalanche safety, wilderness first aid, CPR and rescue training. For two months, he served as a wildlife protection volunteer in Alaska’s Denali National Park.

Bosche thinks long and hard about the actions and impact of what occurred on Campos’ flight. He witnessed a similar event on a previous trip and knows he’s likely to see one again.

The fact is that airlines generally acquiesce to requests by men who say they can’t sit near a woman for religious reasons. But it’s rare for an airline to admit why they are reseating passengers.

Their reason may be because such juggling of seats violates federal equal rights laws. Thank Rosa Parks.

In Campos’ case, the desk clerk reportedly made it clear Campos was being moved because two male monks said they couldn’t be near a female.

Oops.

Generally, Bosche is a come-what-may guy. He believes in religious freedoms and if a man doesn’t want to sit near a woman, let him buy the adjacent seat or seats.

But as many readers have written, freedom also means, “Don’t tread on me.”

Bosche offers the example of a crowded sidewalk. A man who believes he can’t be near a woman shouldn’t expect the sea of people to part.

“The airplane is much like a crowded (sidewalk), however, even more difficult to navigate,” Bosche says. “United Airlines should not force the public to ‘walk around,’ or in this case, move your seat.

“Until United Airlines establishes a more professional approach to this kind of seating preference, it would appear you can indeed make the crowd ‘walk around’ you.”

Before boarding his United Airlines flight at Sydney Airport, he writes the company. “Due to my cultural beliefs, I cannot sit next to men. On my upcoming flight … please ensure there are no men next to me.”

He doesn’t stop there. He also is transparent that he is making a point. “I expect the same service,” he writes United, “as referenced below in the recent case study and legal precedent should you attempt to move me:

“United Airlines passenger told to switch seats as Pakistani men ‘did not want to sit next to woman.’”

United doesn’t reply.

‘SIT OUTS’

Confident he is doing the right thing, Bosche reiterates his request at the check-in desk at Sydney Airport. “Do to my cultural beliefs,” he says, “I cannot sit next to men.”

The United clerk, according to Bosche, explains he is slated to sit next to a man. She says, “I cannot move someone else’s seat.”

In marked contrast to how United handled Campos at John Wayne Airport, a supervisor informs Bosche, “We can’t move people because they would get quite upset.”

She adds, “The seat next to you was pre-reserved.”

So was Campos’ original seat.

But the airline supervisor has an option that United personnel at JWA didn’t. Campos’ flight to Houston was full. The Sydney flight has empty seats.

The supervisor offers Bosche a spot adjacent to vacant seats. Being a reasonable guy who’s made his point, Bosche agrees. “It is what it is. What can I do?”

After landing in San Francisco, Bosche reports his flight was smooth, the staff polite and professional. He also is grateful that he didn’t cause anyone to be moved.

Still, airlines moving around passengers because of their sex rankles. “It infuriated me,” Bosche says. “I don’t think color or sex should have any implications on how you get treated in life.”

Bosche says his peaceful protest was to test the system – “not to make life harder for attendants, and ground crew, but to make management think a little more carefully.”

To be sure, moving passengers because of gender is a slippery slope. Federal law outlaws discrimination and specifically cites age, ethnicity, handicap, religion, race – and sex.

On common carriers, which include commercial airliners, you can’t move around women because of their sex just as you can’t move around people because of the color of their skin.

Bosche is considering tweaking the airlines even more to make the point that gender discrimination is absurd. “What if I only want to sit next to people six foot tall? What if I don’t want to be next to someone wearing flip-flops?”

Bosche hopes his peaceful action inspires others. “I would recommend everyone start considering their sexual seat preference as it were.”

Such actions, he believes, would force airlines to treat everyone equally, to ignore seating requests based on gender.

During Arlo Guthrie’s heyday, there were sit-ins.

Bosche calls his movement a “sit out.”

Contact the writer: dwhiting@scng.com