A gay couple have spoken out about being shouted at on a London bus for kissing. Jack James, and his partner were on board the number 89 bus in South London when, according to the Evening Standard, the driver subjected them to “a volley of homophobic abuse for kissing”.
They then claim they were ordered off the bus, but they did not realise the order was directed at them so stayed on until their stop. Mr James, a 23 year old events co-ordinator from Greenwich, said: “We were chatting away when my partner gave me a peck on the lips.
“The bus driver shouted ‘Oi you two don’t do that on my f****** bus or you can get off, I don’t want to watch that.'”
He added: “When the bus stopped at our stop I walked up to the driver and politely asked the driver if he was talking to us. His reply was ‘Yes, it’s my bus it is my rules and I don’t want to watch that, it’s disgusting, get off the bus’.
“Once we got off the bus we were fuming and I was shaking. The bus stopped again and he shouted and told us we were not real men and we should f*** off.”
Although Mr James claims to have been very upset about the incident he has still not taken the matter up with the Police. Despite this Transport for London are investigating the matter and say they will discuss it with the driver when he returns from leave.
Ken Davidson, TfL’s Head of Bus Operations, said: “All customers have the right to use our services without fear of being abused and offensive behaviour is completely unacceptable. We would like to reassure Mr James that this matter is being taken very seriously and that a thorough investigation is being conducted by Go Ahead (the bus operator).”
The complaint comes just days after protests outside Sainsbury’s in Brighton led to the store apologising for ejecting a lesbian couple for kissing.
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