A gay couple in Indianapolis, Indiana
has come forward with details of being kicked out of a Lyft car
earlier this month over a kiss.
Ben Martella and Alec Jansen, both
college students, were kicked out of the ride-share vehicle about a
mile into their ride.
At a stoplight, the driver ordered them
out of the car.
"We basically pecked, nothing out
of the ordinary," Martella told The Indianapolis Star.
"He looked in his rear view mirror. He was yelling. We were
stunned. We didn’t know the reason for it. He said, 'I’m going to
end your ride. I can’t have that in my car. I don’t have that
here.’ ... I was really upset. It was a big reaction for such a
small display of affection between two guys."
“We gave each other a short kiss on
the lips,” said Jansen. “I was just surprised the whole thing
happened. It just didn't seem like it was real.”
“I just came out a couple months ago.
This is the first time I've had any sort of discrimination,”
Jansen added.
Martella said that they received a
refund from Lyft and the paper reported that the driver was
“deactivated” from using the service.
Martella described his interactions
with Lyft as “very impersonal” and said that he was considering
taking legal action against the company.
“There's really nothing I need out of
the situation,” he said. “It's my fear for others.”
Indianapolis has an ordinance
prohibiting LGBT discrimination in “public accommodations.”