Homophobia On The Short Line Bus (in NY)

Singer Ari Gold says he was on a Short Line bus this weekend that was less than civil, especially when it comes to civil rights.

Gold was holding hands with a man in the front seat.
Says he:

"The driver told us if we wanted to continue sitting together, we had to sit in the back."

Frustrated, the driver called for a New York state trooper!
"Then he pulled over," says Gold. "The state trooper came and asked what the problem is, and he said that the way were were sitting was making him uncomfortable and he wanted us off the bus.
"The trooper said nothing was illegal and he needs to continue to drive."

Gold made an announcement to the other passengers, explaining that they had been pulled over to wait for the state trooper because he was holding hands with a man.
They all seemed deeply pissed at the blatant homophobia.

Gold -- the gay Rosa Parks -- will be filing charges.


We called ShortLine to find out if anything had been done about the situation and we were emailed this statement from George Grieve, President of Hudson Transit Lines:

I am the president of Hudson Transit Lines, Inc. which is the company known as Shortline. I wanted to assure you and your readers that we do not condone or endorse the actions taken by this one driver. His actions are not representative of the management of our Company. We will continue to investigate this incident until we are sure we have all the facts at which time we will take the appropriate disciplinary and remedial action. We apologize for the insensitive action of our driver and can assure you we will take the necessary steps to make sure this does not happen again.