Gay Couple Allegedly Booted off Bus for Kissing
By Chuck Sudo in News on Nov 4, 2011 2:25PM
Windy City Times reports today on a gay couple who is considering filing a complaint with the Chicago Transit Authority because a bus driver allegedly shouted homophobic slurs at them and tried to kick them off his bus because they were kissing.
Christopher Buchanan and Derrell Hughes were riding a southbound 146 bus holding hands and kissing when, according to Buchanan, a white woman approached the driver as the bus reached downtown to complain.
At that point the bus driver allegedly stopped the bus and tried to throw Buchanan and Hughes off the bus.
"He was really in my face," said Buchanan. "He said 'you bitches need to get off the bus…I can't stand fags.'"
The couple refused to leave, so the driver called police and a CTA supervisor, shutting the bus down for two hours. Buchanan and Hughes eventually left the bus. Buchanan believed he and Hughes were targeted because they were two black men kissing on a bus and said, "Straight people kiss on the bus all the time."
The couple is being represented by Jacob Meister of The Civil Rights Agenda, who's hoping for a civil resolution before legal action is taken.
We'd like to know why the driver waited until someone complained as the bus reached downtown? If Hughes and Buchanan were engaging in PDAs on the bus and the bus driver "can't stand fags," why didn't the driver stop sooner?