London: Uber taxi driver 'kicks out gay couple for kissing'

A gay couple in London have been allegedly kicked out from an Uber taxi cab for kissing.

It is believed that the incident occurred after the pair stopped a taxi in Covent Garden, London and only managed to travel for a few minutes before being asked by the driver to leave.

Speaking to IBTimes UK, Jordan Sloan said he and his boyfriend Corey Blimey called an Uber taxi around 7:30pm in the evening on New Year's Day.

"It's very important for me to emphasise the timing because it's very easy for people to say that we were intoxicated and we were doing more than kissing, but we were not. It was not four in the morning and we were not drunk," he said.

"After a couple of minutes the cab driver just pulled over and told us to get out."

Sloan explained that while Blimey reacted more aggressively and started questioning the driver, he was caught off guard.

"I was shocked to experience such homophobic behaviour in London in 2015.

"I told the driver that I didn't understand what we were doing wrong and he responded: 'I take gays but they never do this', so then I asked whether he would behave in the same way if I was a guy with my girlfriend, but he didn't answer," Sloan continued.

He added that after they left the cab, Blimey contacted Uber via Twitter and the company asked him to follow him back to have a private conversation.

"Uber said they do not tolerate homophobic behaviour but they didn't say they will publicly apologise," Sloan explained. "I don't think that the driver needs to be singled out, but we need to make the world aware that this stuff happens and it's not OK.

"My boyfriend doesn't want to use this company again, but I am not going to boycott it personally. Quite frankly it was not Uber's fault but maybe they might need to change some policies."

IBTimes UK contacted Uber for a comment on the incident.

The company's spokesperson Harry Porter said: "Uber does not tolerate any form of discrimination either by our partner drivers or towards our partner drivers.

"We opened an investigation from the moment we learned of this unacceptable incident and have been in contact with the rider to extended our sincere apologies and get further information.

"The driver concerned has been suspended from the Uber platform."