A gay couple is considering filing complaints against CTA ( Chicago Transit Authority ) after a bus driver allegedly tried to have them removed from the bus for kissing.
The two men say that the driver yelled homophobic slurs at them and called police after they refused to leave the bus.
Christopher Buchanan, 22, and his boyfriend Derrell Hughes boarded a 146 southbound bus in Lakeview on Oct. 22, after leaving an afternoon program at the Broadway Youth Center, Buchanan said.
"I was holding his hand and kissing and whatnot," Buchanan told Windy City Times.
As the bus approached downtown, he said, a middle-aged White woman approached the bus driver to complain about the two.
The driver allegedly got up and told Buchanan and Hughes that someone had complained about them and that they needed to get off his bus.
"He was really in my face," said Buchanan. "He said 'you bitches need to get off the bus…I can't stand fags.'"
When the couple refused to leave, Buchanan said, the driver called police. Buchanan said that police said they had not done anything illegal, they got off the bus after a two-hour ordeal during which a CTA supervisor was called.
Buchanan said he felt the two were targeted because they were two black men kissing in public. He noted that a straight couple was also kissing on the bus at the time of the incident.
"Where does it state on CTA we can't kiss on the bus?" Buchanan said. "Straight people kiss on the bus all the time."
Jacob Meister of The Civil Rights Agenda is representing the couple. He said he will pursue a resolution with CTA before taking legal action.
"If they don't take it seriously enough, we'll file a complaint. It will cause them problems, and I don't think they want that," Meister said.
An email from CTA media relations said a complaint had been made with customer service and that they were looking into the matter. Windy City Times will update as more details become available.
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