A Portland, Oregon gay couple traveling in Albuquerque were told
to sit in the back of the bus because they were holding hands.
Ron McCoy and Chris Bowers were in New Mexico last month for a
road trip through the Southwest.
When an airport shuttle driver witnessed the pair holding hands,
he told them to move to the back of the bus, KRQE
reported.
“I saw him look at us, look down at his hands and he looked so
angry. He just blurted out at me, he goes, 'OK if you're going to do
that, you're going to the back of the bus,'” McCoy said.
The couple complied with the order but approached the driver once
the shuttle stopped.
“I said 'I think it was because you didn't like the fact that I
was holding my partner's hand.' He goes, 'See, now you're telling on
yourself.' My partner responds, 'Well that's discrimination.' And
the driver responds, 'You're telling on yourself again,'” McCoy
said.
A spokesman for Sunport, the shuttle company, said that it
immediately contacted Standard Parking, the private company
contracted to operate the shuttles.
“First and foremost, it's absolutely unacceptable,” Sunport's
Dan Jiron said. “We immediately got in touch with Standard Parking
to assess what exactly happened. They acknowledged this was a
mistake on the part of the driver.”
However, McCoy said that neither he nor Bowers have received an
apology over the incident. They have filed a complaint with the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).