The Yellow Cab company in Houston, Texas has issued a surprising statement in response to a gay couple who claims they were kicked out of one of the company’s cabs for kissing in the back seat.
Boyfriends Travis Player and Andres Orozco tell ABC 13 that they “thought [the driver] was joking until he actually pulled over,” asking them to vacate the cab several blocks from their destination.
They claim the driver was disgusted by their kissing, which they describe as “PG”:
“We gave each other a kiss and he told us to get out of the car. The man just turns back to us and tells us that he doesn’t give gay people rides, and he proceeds to tell us we’re going to hell for being gay.”
Yellow Cab says they “investigated” the driver following the allegations, but won’t reprimand him because he has the right to refuse rides to anyone for any reason, including passengers’ sexual orientation, skin color, and gender.
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The company released the following statement to ABC 13:
“Yellow Cab immediately investigated this allegation of discrimination, including talking to the independent contractor driver. the driver stated that he would have taken the same actions if it was a man and a woman in the taxicab. Evidently, the driver was overly sensitive to passengers kissing. Yellow Cab does not have a policy about passengers showing affection in taxicabs. in fact, we encourage kissing in our taxicabs.”
But at the end of the day, it’s not about being kicked out of a cab. “We were expressing our love for each other and for someone else to jump in and clearly state it’s not right, that really did upset me,” Orozco said.
ABC notes that the couple would have been protected under Houston’s recently-passed equal rights ordinance, but since it’s being challenged in court, the taxi driver will remain free to discriminate.
Cam
So the cab company admitted that they believe they can discriminate based on skin color? That’s funny because the U.S. Dept. of Justice says that they can’t.
Stache99
What do you want to bet the driver comes from either Africa or Eastern Europe.
niles
One word: Uber. F**k the cab companies.
DarkZephyr
This just goes to show that despite our victories with marriage, we still have a LONG way to go in this country. Heck, perhaps we always will. The same people that are still r*cist schmucks are probably always going to be homophobic schmucks as well.
Silas Wegg
I’m in another Texas city and have had a cab driver ask to suck my dick.
Paco
“the driver stated that he would have taken the same actions if it was a man and a woman in the taxicab. Evidently, the driver was overly sensitive to passengers kissing. ”
Uh huh. I’m going to call that out as a huge, steaming pile of BS.
JerseyMike
@DarkZephyr: the sad thing is half the ra*ist smucks I run into are gay.. If we can’t treat each other with respect why should anyone else show us respect..
timbacon
The couple should call the Inspector General’s office in Houston. We just passed a nondiscrimination ordinance in Houston that I am sure would cover this incident. Unfortunately, the conservatives have sued the City in an attempt to get the ordinance blocked. Until the court rules in the City’s favor, the City will not prosecute. But, and here is the IMPORTANT part currently, the city wants to record all incidents of possible discrimination. Please do so.
Gothrykke
And they thought that allowing this action to go unpunished was a good idea? These people do realize that even though it’s Texas, it’s still not Russia? So long Yellow Cab.
Dwight
“Yellow Cab says they ‘investigated’ the driver following the allegations, but won’t reprimand him because he has the right to refuse rides to anyone for any reason, including passengers’ sexual orientation, skin color, and gender.”
Hey Yellow Cab – He had already picked them up and had started taking them to their destination. It’s bad enough to not pick them up for these reasons you cited but can they really “refuse” a ride to someone they’ve already decided to take to their destination? The argument doesn’t hold water.
Stache99
@niles:Every argument I’ve heard for Uber points to these examples out of many.
Stache99
@JerseyMike: It depends on where you hang out. All my gay friends are pretty liberal and totally not ra*ists. Maybe you need to reconsider the people you hang out with instead of blanket false statements.
JerseyMike
@Stache99: I don’t think it was a blanket statesmen because I didn’t say all.. Sorry I can’t control the people that live around me because I live in NY.. Ever heard of it? Pretty big place!! My statement was in order for us to get respect from other people we have to have respect from each other and stop the ra*ism, a*eism, ect.. The only blackest statement was made by you when you said “ALL of your friends are pretty liberal and totally not ra*ist..ALL? REALLY? You know just as well as I do that ra*ism is a big problem in the gay community.. Stop l*ing to yourself. When we as a community need to workout our own issues then we can look to others to respect us.. I’m not going to argue, debate or get into name calling. I know what is see in this big city I live in.. Enjoy your evening..
Tackle
@JerseyMike: I agree with you. It may not be all, but it is enough for it to be a problem. It’s a shame that some people want to pretend it’s not, and keep blinders on.
Cam
@JerseyMike:
The issue is, that this guy is doing business and therefore in breach of Federal law. But by all means lets try to completely distract from the real issue.
JerseyMike
@Cam: ok.. Have a nice day..
Joseph81
Gays are living in Sin thus minds turning from that sin and seeking Christ’s redeeming blood,they are indeed hell bound. As is anyone else in sin and not covered by Jesus blood. I pray for gays eyes to be opened and the sickness that dwells within to be healed.
Joseph81
Gays are living in Sin thus minus turning from that sin and seeking Christ’s redeeming blood,they are indeed hell bound. As is anyone else in sin and not covered by Jesus blood. I pray for gays eyes to be opened and the sickness that dwells within to be healed.