A couple celebrating Pride were dismayed when they say their Uber driver refused to drive them after the two men exchanged a quick kiss. The men allege things got even worse, reports ABC7, as the driver then hurled homophobic slurs at them.
"It was a peck," explained Sumeet Chadha to the channel. "That's all."
Matt Togni, who shared in the kiss with Chadha, went into further detail. "The driver all of a sudden said, 'We can't take you guys anymore. We can't take you guys.' And we're like 'uh what are you talking about?' And he says, 'We don't have any gas. We don't have any gas. This car is not going to work.' "
The men said they could see that the car had plenty of gas. When they pressed the issue, the driver allegedly canceled the ride and told them to get out. "[The driver] calls us a very homophobic expletive and then tells us we're going to hell as we're leaving the car," said Togni. "He says nothing is going to happen, report what you want."
Tongi went into more detail with Pink News, repeating what he said were the driver's exact words: "Fags rot in hell."
This is not the first time, of course, that an Uber driver has been accused of discriminating against LGBTQ passengers. Just earlier this month, Mashable reports that an Uber driver was recorded by his passengers hurling homophobic slurs at them and was shortly thereafter fired — but that was in Australia. That the recent encounter allegedly occurred in San Francisco, during Pride no less, makes it all the more troubling.
Interestingly, this incident came right when Uber was reaching out to the queer community — Pink News notes that in light of the massacre at a Gay nightclub in Orlando, the ride-hail company offered free rides to and from certain LGBTQ venues over Pride weekend.
ABC 7 reached out to Uber, and a spokesperson responded that the company "does not tolerate any form of discrimination, and [is] looking into this incident."
Chadha and Togni, for their parts, say they will never use Uber again.
Related: Last Night, My Uber Driver Said He Was Going To Rape And Kill Me