Male crooner slash lust object Ari Gold recently became a kinda-sorta-not-really gay rights figure when a Short Line bus driver asked Gold to sit in the back of the bus for holding hands with another man. Oh this should go well…
When Gold and his friend refused, the driver stopped and called for a New York state trooper who then came on board and asked what the problem was. The bus driver said that the way were were sitting made him uncomfortable and that he wanted Gold and his pal off the bus. Says Gold, “The trooper said nothing was illegal and he needs to continue to drive.”
Michael Musto explains, “Ari then made an announcement to the other passengers, explaining that they had been pulled over to wait for the state trooper because he was holding hands with a man. They all seemed deeply pissed at the blatant homophobia.”
Gold plans on filing charges against Short Line and consulting Lambda Legal to at least see if Short Line can provide better employee training. On his Facebook page, Gold says, “I stood up to the driver despite my racing heart, I can only imagine what that might have done to someone who couldn’t.”
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George Grieve, President of Hudson Transit Lines has responded by issuing this statement:
I am the president of Hudson Transit Lines, Inc. which is the company known as Shortline. I wanted to assure you and your readers that we do not condone or endorse the actions taken by this one driver. His actions are not representative of the management of our Company. We will continue to investigate this incident until we are sure we have all the facts at which time we will take the appropriate disciplinary and remedial action. We apologize for the insensitive action of our driver and can assure you we will take the necessary steps to make sure this does not happen again.
So Ari Gold’s “Rosa Parks moment” won’t start a bus boycott (mainly because businesses know better these days than to discriminate wholesale against entire subsets of America), but he is a small-time hero. And did we mention he’s hot…?
Because he is.
Shane Rogers
Ari, FANTASTIC for standing up for yourself…and others! 🙂
lika
Holding hands at the back of the bus (train or subway) is gonna be the least of the driver’s concern, lemme tell you.
Dallas David
I hope Ari offered to hold hands with everyone on the bus to make up for the inconvenience.
christopher di spirito
Good for Ari.
Steve
Okay, look, if you’re so opposed to the LGBT movement comparing our plight to those of African Americans, then please, STOP MAKING IT SO DAMN EASY TO DO!
Kieran
There is nothing “kinda-sorta-not really” about it. Ari Gold HAS become a gay civil rights figure after this despicable episode of homophobia on a bus. I hope he sues the bastard and the company that hired him for $50 million dollars for emotional distress. Why a gay website of all places would make light of this very serious story of discrimination against gays is beyond me.
theo
He’s hot
Trey
heres what he said to the busdriver “mah hanns is desired. Desired to touch mah Boyfran’s hanns.”
Christopher
Why is he taking a bus? Maybe the driver hated his last record?
Mike
Just curious. Would you be making as big a deal about this if he wasn’t hot? Given the picture you used, what in your mind is more important here – his standing up to a homophobic bus driver or his washboard abs?
Sebizzar
Awesome! What a stupid bus driver, he got taught a lesson.
Btw, if i saw that add i’d assume he wants me to sit on his lap 😉 LoL
Red Meat
A “Rosa Parks moment” …lol that sounds so gay now.
Blake White
Didn’t Ari date Billy Porter? What happened to that relationship? Ari is hot!
Thrutch
He should have gone to the back of the Bus, than complained to the company. It was one bus driver, not a systemic cultural thing where every gay person was expected to go to the back of the bus. He famous and made a fuss over some small prejudice in a public arena. Also the bus driver was driving, I don’t want my driver distracted behind the wheel.
merle
Good for him, but gays and buses don’t mix.
Elloreigh
@Thrutch: While I agree that Gold’s situation is not exactly the same as the systemic discrimination against black people that led up to Rosa Parks’ experience, I disagree with the notion that it’s “some small prejudice in a public arena”.
So long as we accept the double standard that says we should be treated differently, we will be. Gold stood up for himself, and apparently has plans to follow up that experience with action to prevent it from happening to someone else.
So while Ari Gold is no Rosa Parks, belittling his experience strikes me as just plain mean and possibly indicative of a passive acceptance of an inferior place in society. No need to scooch over to make room – I won’t be joining you there.
Brian Miller
The fact that the bus driver escalated it to the police — with the expectation that he’d be supported by the police in the incident — illustrates how pernicious homophobia is, and how commonly it’s still accepted. Good for him for refusing to accept it.
Marvin
There’s nothing kinda-sorta-not-really about it! He was literally told to move to the back of the bus for being visibly in a relationship with another man, and he stood up for himself and called public attention to the driver’s bigotry. That makes him a gay-rights figure in my book, and I appreciate his courageous stand.
Marvin
Queerty, you once again got the tone completely wrong on this. Your sardonic title and commentary suggest there was something slightly rediculous about Ari and his boyfriend, their actions, or the notion that they were standing up for their and others’ rights to express normal human affection in the face of a bully’s pressure to accept more constraints than would ever be expected of a heterosexual couple. It would only be rediculous to someone who accepts second-hand status as the natural norm.
christopher di spirito
Ari’s reaction was gold.
mikeandrewsdantescove
I’m impressed Ari did this. He also has a great album out right now.
Mike
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