“You bitches need to get off the bus…I can’t stand fags.”
That’s what a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus driver allegedly told Christopher Buchanan and his boyfriend, Derrell Hughes, when he caught them kissing and holding hands on a bus in Lakeview. 
Buchanan says the bus driver was responding to a complaint by another passenger.
“Where does it state on CTA we can’t kiss on the bus?” Buchanan said to Windy City Times. “Straight people kiss on the bus all the time.” In fact Buchanan said there was a heterosexual couple kissing on the same bus they were on.
When Buchanan and Hughes—both of whom are African-American—refused to leave, the driver called the police, who said the couple hadn’t done anything illegal. But after a two-hour ordeal, the men decided to depart anyway. They’re taking up the matter with CTA authorities before pursuing any legal action.
“If [the CTA] doesn’t take it seriously enough, we’ll file a complaint,” says Jacob Meister of The Civil Rights Agenda, who is representing the couple. “It will cause them problems, and I don’t think they want that.”
Jonathonz
Had the driver never heard of Rosa Parks before? The irony is thick in this case!
Saywhatnow?
Dear Queerty
When you write articles about people who are Caucasian, do you ever insert the phrase —both of whom are Caucasian—, because I don’t think you do. Also, are there any non-white writers for this blog? It seems like you guys have no idea how to handle stories involving minorities without throwing in some way to make us feel uncomfortable while reading you articles.
WillBFair
These cases are always problematic. If they kissed, fine. But if they were sucking
face, I’m sorry, but no one wants to see that.
ke
Will, can’t stand fags = sucking face? You’re pretty self-loathing. And, don’t deny it.
redmont
@Saywhatnow?: Well they definitely have someone who is “latino-adjacent” in “Daniel Villareal” but his articles are probably the worst written and ill-informed ones on this site so… =\
@WillBFair: if straight people can do it without getting kicked off the bus, then so can gays. it’s that plain and simple. i don’t want to see it gay or straight, but it’s no reason to kick someone off the bus. this is a case about a homophobic bus driver, that’s it.
Paul
Interesting how ke looked past the “can’t stand fags” part. He’s either a troll or a self-loathing gay man.
Paul
Or, WillBFair, not ke.
Little Kiwi
WillBFair, these cases are only “problematic” for insecure homosexuals who are still living each day looking over their shoulder worrying about what The Straights are thinking about them.
for the rest of us, it’s a very easily discernible case of prejudice. All a gay couple has to do to “cross the line” is to be Visibly Gay to people. That’s reality. Anything that reminds ’em that we’re gay, and sexual beings, is considered “flaunting it” and “throwing it in their faces”. It’s bullshit.
for what it’s worth, folks, PDA is indeed a part of the Movement. People won’t stop freaking out about seeing LGBT couples being affectionate until they see MORE of it – help ’em get used it. hug your love, kiss them, embrace them. in public.
Dan Avery
ED NOTE: The race of the victims was included because Buchanan believed it may have played a part in their being ejected. The original Windy City Times article read, “Buchanan said he felt the two were targeted because they were two black men kissing in public.”
Gigi
@WillBFair: Really? Why is there always a distinction? Gay or straight, there’s no law that says people can lightly kiss or suck face if they want on public transit. I see straight people do it all the time. Does it bother me? No. I ignore it. I continue reading my book. I mind my own business. The driver of the bus was wrong and the police said that what these young men were doing was not illegal. End of story!
ewe
I wish it was me. I really need the cash.
HM
I ride Chicago city busses everyday.
The victims might be african-America, . I can almost guarantee you….so was the bus driver.
EK
The bus driver should be fired for wasting company time. Especially if this lasted two hours. Not to mention being unprofessional.
xander
If there’s any good news here, it’s that the (Chicago) police handled the situation appropriately. I hope the Transit Authority makes sure drivers are trained to deal with these situations, because from what I see more same-sex couples +are+ holding hands on public transportation — just like hetero couples, d’oh!
Desdemona
The bus driver better be fired for his actions, or at least instructed to shut his mouth and never even consider telling someone to get off the bus for kissing again. That is absolute and utter bull$hit. You’re a bus driver for one- it’s not YOUR bus; you get paid to drive the bus, not dish out your feelings! That’s annoying issue #1. Annoying issue #2 would be the fact that straight people absolutely without regard, flaunt their sexuality nonchalantly. If a gay couple simply holds hands, they are told to exit the bus! This is the Rosa Parks story of the LGBT civil rights movement!
WillBFair
@Gigi: I ride the bus all the time and I never see serious necking. I wouldn’t want to. But we have all kinds of rules on the busses in Seattle, mostly against things that annoy other people, of which this is one.
But you guys are right. If they were really going at it, the driver might have just asked them to stop.
I do like how vicious you all can get. From one comment, you understand my whole character. Now I’m self loathing (I wouldn’t dream of denying it to a brilliant psychoanalyst like ke), a troll, insecure, and worrying about what straights think of me.
You guys should apply for honorary degrees in psychology. With your great diagnostic skills, you could skip class and go right to graduation.
WillBFair
I also like how you accept without witnesses the gay people’s version as a knee jerk reaction. That they were kissing in public is evidence that they are looking for attention. I’m not saying they made up the homophobia. But they might have.
This is a he said she said situation. But you know everything that happened as if you were there. And anyone who thinks there could be another side to the story is a self loathing traitor to the Glorious March of Queer Equality. Please. You might at least wait for the investigation before condemning the driver.
Ever heard the phrase ‘get a room’? It’s common when people are getting too squishy in public. Maybe they were. That’s all I was saying.
SammySeattle
@WillBFair: @WillBFair: “Get a room” is different than “Get off of this bus” Funny, I ride Metro all the time as well and I see straight folks kissing and groping often. It’s not in violation of the Metro Code of Conduct, but respecting other riders’ privacy is.
Kieran
You identified the victims as African-American, but you left out the race of the homophobic bus driver, which leads me to assume the bigot was not white.
SEXXYJAMAICAN
@Kieran: he was probably black too but I could be wrong, but from what I heard it was a middle-aged white woman who complained to the bus driver about the two…. jus say’n.
shannon
HOW DARE YOU INVOKE ROSA PARKS YOU IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU ALWAYS WANT TO USE OTHER RACES AND GROUOS WHEN IT SUITS YOUR PURPOSE……AND YOU WONDER WHY PEOPLE ARE TURNING THEIR BACKS AGAINST YOU….
lemon-lime
@shannon: looks like someone forgot to turn off their caps lock
CBRad
Greatly, it seems like only the other passengers as witnesses will be able to paint a clearer picture of what went on in this case.
ChrisM
@Little Kiwi: Nobody was ever denying the bus driver’s remarks were homophobic and inappropriate. If WillBFair’s thoughts were anything like mine, he simply meant that the original passenger complaint probably indicated that the “kiss” was more than a quick peck. Because, let’s face it, even the most bigoted homophobe isn’t ballsy enough to march up to the bus driver and complain about a two second smooch. And honestly, I think a complaint about people making out on a bus is valid. At the same time, I believe most straight people would be quicker to complain about a gay couple making out than a straight couple. But a complaint about either is valid.
As for gays having to be more affectionate in public – I hope you don’t mean by things as graphic as sucking face in public. Holding hands – great. But more sexualized PDA just adds to the stereotype that gays are promiscuous and perverts and only hurts our image. I have no clue where gays like you get your ideas, but you are setting us back as much as religion. And before you call me a self-loathing gay (which is why I’m on a gay blog, right?), notice that I’m not saying to hide who you are – just that your idea of using affection and sexuality as a weapon is completely childish.
cookie
I’m old (er)–61 and my girl and I hug and kiss in public a lot. we actually get a fair amount of approval because we’re 1. white 2. older ladies (think grannies) 3.small in stature 4. not a threat I’m reasonably sure that these 2 men WERE targeted because they are 1. men 2. young 3. black. 4. perceived as a threat. The police did NOT handle the situation well. It’s up to them to tell the driver to keep driving the bus! Two hours of a standoff?! Ridiculous! And the driver should have been reported to the CTA. It’s wake-up time for everyone–including the other passengers!
WillBFair
@ChrisM: Thak you, darling. Sometimes it’s hard for me to communicate with low gay culture. When they can’t understand basic public rules, there’s no hope.
Smooches.
WillBFair
Let’s try again. Thank you, darling.
WillBFair
@ChrisM: That’s the point. I’m always strategic. And turning a bus into a gay sex fest is very bad PR.
Schlukitz
“And turning a bus into a gay sex fest is very bad PR.”
“I have no clue where gays like you get your ideas, but you are setting us back as much as religion.”
I don’t know who is the bigger pearl-clutcher, WillBFair or CrisM?
Y’all probably think that gays wearing below the knee cut-offs in summer is “flaunting” your sexuality too.
You guys need to crawl out from that rock you are hiding under and get a life!
Schlukitz
@lemon-lime:
An apparent anger management problem.
Ms Thang should get help before she busts her caps lock. ;P
ChrisM
@Schlukitz: Nope, it’s pretty simple to tell what’s appropriate in public and what’s not. Wear whatever clothing you like. Sharing an intense, intimate moment with a significant other is not something anyone wants to witness. I’d be embarrassed to make out with my boyfriend in public, not because I’m gay but because that kind of uncontrollable passion makes me feel vulnerable – and I only want to feel that vulnerability around him, who I trust. Honestly, have you ever witnessed a couple sucking face in public? You feel extremely awkward, like you’re intruding on something – until you realize that you’re sitting in the same exact bus seat that you sit in every afternoon.
I don’t recall anybody using the phrase “flaunting sexuality”, except maybe those who were trying to put words in my mouth. But yes, I guess I’ll get a life – by which I assume you mean start going out of my way to include the general public in my romantic affairs… Sometimes I feel like the biggest perpetuators of gay stereotypes are gays themselves, who just want the rest of the gay community to be like them so badly that they refuse to acknowledge that gays are as diverse as straights. It pisses me off.
Schlukitz
@ChrisM:
You are beginning to sound just like the self-righteous religious types who not only don’t want to see you expressing affection and love for your partner, but would prefer that you both go back into the closet an stay there, when you are not being bashed or beaten up just for being gay in public, that is.
And, if you like the closet, that is A-OK with me. To each his own.
I have a couple of old expressions for you to ponder.
1) Live and let live.
2) You go to your Church and I’ll go to mine.
ChrisM
@Schlukitz: There’s a huge spectrum between being in the closet and making sure that everybody on a bus, beyond any doubt, knows that you are gay. But I guess someone who views tongue-wrestling in public as a selfless mission would miss that subtlety.
Schlukitz
@ChrisM:
Give those pearls a break, girlfriend.
You are clutching them so tightly that they are suffocating.
ChrisM
@Schlukitz: I’ll take that as a “I’m wrong, and I have no intellegent response so I’ll call you a prude again!”
ChrisM
@Schlukitz: I’ll take that as a “I’m wrong, and I have no intelligent response so I’ll call you a prude again!”
Nicky80
Lucky for them the police was on their side.. This is really getting outrageous..
Schlukitz
@Nicky80:
Lecture from ChrisM on what’s appropriate in public and what’s not coming in 5-4-3-2-……
Sam
QUERRTY you filthy white operated so called gay newspaper. How dare you refuse to publish the photographs of the black gay couple when ever other gay magazine has.
Is it because they are not White enough for you. Interestingly you also choose to conveniently edit the fact that a white woman(surprise!) had lodged a complain to the bus driver after which the whole problem started.
SHAME on you for your racial hatred of non white gays. Your cover is totally blown. Maybe it is time you change your caption to : EXCEPT THAT OF A WHITE GAY ONE.
scotshot
@WillBFair: As someone who it seems is a member of “low gay culture”, I’m surprised and honored someone from your level has stooped to our level in order to grace us with your presence and wisdom.