Gay men kicked out of Uber for sharing kiss in Australia
Aaron Brown (Instagram)
Two gay men in Sydney, Australia have said they were kicked out of an Uber after one kissed the other on the forehead.
Aaron Brown said his friend, Ryan Ottey, kissed him on the forehead during the journey, which led to the driver abruptly telling them to get out of the vehicle.
“The driver immediately turned around and said, ‘Not in my car, I’m not driving you anymore, get out of my car,’” Brown told 9news.com.au.
‘I’m not driving that’
“We were just dumbfounded and thought it was a joke so we questioned him and asked why.
“He just repeated himself and said ‘I can’t drive you anymore, this is my car and I’m not driving that’ – talking about us.”
Brown then began to film his interaction with the driver. In the video, he can be heard asking why they were being told to get out of the car.
“Not in my car, I’m not driving you anymore, get out of my car.”
– Uber driver
The driver appears to respond: “I don’t want to take you, you can book another cab.”
After the men got out of the car, Brown complained to Uber, but was left disappointed by the company’s “generic” response.
“I expected a phone call at least to double check that we were okay,” he said.
Aaron Brown (Instagram)
He also said that he and his friend were “shocked and upset” that something as innocent as a kiss on the forehead could lead to them being treated “like scum.”
“It’s just sad really that it’s still happening in 2019.”
– Aaron Brown
The incident occurred after Sydney’s Mardi Gras, which Brown said is a time for “celebration and acceptance.”
“This behaviour is unacceptable,” he added.
“That driver should not have been on the road at all.
“It’s just sad really that it’s still happening in 2019.”
An Uber spokeswoman told 9news.com.au that the company does not tolerate discrimination.
Past Uber incidents
This is not the first time an LGBT+ person has experienced issues with Uber drivers.
In November, an Uber driver allegedly told a gay man and his husband that they “would be beheaded” where he came from before dragging him down a busy street in New York.
The couple hugged each other in the back seat, which allegedly prompted the Uber driver to call them “faggots.”
When stopped at a red light, the couple attempted to get out of the car, but the man drove away before they had exited the vehicle, leaving Carey hanging on.
Last summer, an Uber driver allegedly told a lesbian couple that their kiss in his car was “illegal.”
The driver had his licence suspended by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) after the incident.
In August, it was revealed that a new initiative was being launched in New York City to tackled the growing problem of LGBT+ discrimination from taxi drivers.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the creation of the new office within the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission to tackle the issue.
The Office of Inclusion, which was proposed by Council Member Donovan Richards, was set up to “focus on the development and implementation of anti-discrimination training for drivers” while launching a public education campaign on the issue.
