'Disgraceful': Two men booted out of Uber for 'being gay'
A Sydney man claims he and a friend were kicked out of an Uber for ‘being gay’.
Ryan Ottey uploaded video on Facebook on Sunday of he and his friend, Aaron Brown, in the back of an Uber.
“Despite it being the weekend of celebrating all things LGBT, some are not so accepting and open,” Mr Ottey wrote.
“We just got kicked out of an Uber for being gay. Aaron put his head on my shoulder and I gave him a kiss on the forehead when the driver told us to ‘get out!’”
Mr Ottey added the driver pulled over and dropped the two men off on the side of the Eastern Distributor after telling them: “Not in my car. I can’t take you. Get out.”
The Sydney man called it “absolutely disgusting and disgraceful behaviour” and found being booted out “humiliating, degrading and totally disrespectful”.
“You don’t want to take us? Why?” Mr Ottey asks the driver in the video.
He replies: “I don’t want to take you, you can get another car.”
“Well, get f***ed then,” Mr Ottey says.
‘Humiliating, degrading and totally disrespectful’
– Ryan Ottey
Uber investigating
An Uber spokesperson told Yahoo7 in a statement the rideshare company “does not tolerate discrimination”.
“We are investigating this incident,” the statement reads.
“Our community guidelines expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and make it clear to driver-partners this behaviour can result in them losing access to the Uber app.
“At Uber, we try to reflect the diversity of the cities we serve and we’re proud to roll out Rainbow Routes during Mardi Gras weekend to show our support for the LGBTQI community.”
Saturday was Mardi Gras in Sydney, which is a celebration of LGBTQI pride.
Mr Ottey’s video had more than 3300 views at the time of publication, with many angry about how he and Mr Brown were treated.
“What a douche,” one man wrote.
“Sorry to hear, man. We don’t need people like that bringing everyone else down.”
Others added it was “shameful”.
In November, a senior student at St Ignatius’ College, one of Sydney’s most prestigious Catholic high schools, received a standing ovation after coming out as gay at a school assembly.
Standing in front of his teachers and 1500 students, Finn Stannard delivered a speech that he had been working on for the past four years.
A far cry from the Year 8 student who would hide in his room in the dark, Finn confidently announced to his peers and educators he was gay during his keynote address in June.
In August, a gay man claimed he was discriminated against after he was booted from a hotel swimming pool in the US for wearing “inappropriate swimwear”.
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