false police report

Uber driver calls 9-1-1 on two dads because their baby “needed his mother”

A gay couple say their Uber driver called 9-1-1 after telling them their crying infant “needed his mother.”

James Moed, his husband, and their newborn son live in the U.K. but recently took a trip to San Diego, where they stayed at the Marriott Marina.

In a series of tweets, Moed explains that the family received a knock on their hotel room door at around 1:30 A.M. last Wednesday. It was the police. They demanded the men immediately show their identification.

“It turns out the Uber driver who had taken us to the hotel had called the cops — accusing us of.. child trafficking? endangerment?” he tweeted.

“The same @Uber driver who told us our crying baby needed his mother, and didn’t back down when we tried to explain that our son has 2 dads.”

After the men explained that they were a same-sex couple with a child and not child traffickers, police departed, but Moed says he and his husband “stayed awake freaking out” for the rest of the night.

They wondered what might have happened if they hadn’t been carrying their son’s passport, or if the officers hadn’t been as understanding or agreeable.

“Where can my #queerfamily travel safely?” he asked.

Moed filed a report with Uber. The company issued him a refund and sent a form letter apologizing for the incident. But he said “we want proof that you keep #LGBTQ riders safe from homophobic drivers.”

Here’s the full Twitter thread:

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