Taxi driver kicks out gay couple for hugging

By Diana Sweet
Friday, November 6th, 2009 -- 10:53 am
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medhat mohamed  300x300 Taxi driver kicks out gay couple for hugging

Paul Bruno and Erick Ruales hailed a New York City cab on Monday evening, and were shocked when the driver, Medhat Mohamed, pulled over after driving two blocks, allegedly muttered something about "No hugging" and tossed the pair out onto the street.

Bruno and Ruales, who are romatically involved, said they began to kiss and hug when they got into the cab, yet even a deputy TLC commissioner says "there's no record of passengers ever being ejected before because of any of it."

"I don't know if it was a personal or religious thing. But it's never OK to deny anyone a ride, especially when it's such blatant and direct discrimination," Bruno told the New York Post.

NYC Mayor Bloomberg was quick to condemn the driver's actions. "I thought the taxi driver's behavior -- if it is as reported -- was a disgrace," Bloomberg said.

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Mohamed told the New York Post that "I wanted to pay attention to getting them to their destination instead of worrying if they were going to have sex or not."

HBO made a reality show series based on the goings-on in the back seats of taxi cabs, but we won't be seeing this report on camera anytime soon. Both Bruno and Ruales have filed reports with the NYC Taxi and Limousine and Human Rights Commissions, which are investigating.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission "would take such an allegation very seriously and fully investigate," said spokesman Allan Fromberg.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn also called on the city's Commission on Human Rights to levy charges.

"Its outrageous," Quinn said. "If true, it's a clear violation of city human-rights law."

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Story comments are below...
  • blushingrush
    I agree. Imagine if Rush Limbaugh and Jeanne Kirkpatrick started making out in the back seat.
    Yucky !
  • SuperGoof09
    I guess they found out later that the couple in question was actually... A-Rod and Derek Jeter on their way to the Yankee victory parade. Just a horrible mix up!
  • LiberalJesus
    And to think that gays go out of their way to make sure muslims arent all labeled "terrorist"...This cab driver needs to remember what country he is in and that his name isn't Johnson or Smith or Thompson! He might really feel like crap if 3 white bubbas named Johnson, Smith and Thompson decided he looked like a terrorist and felt the need to do their civic duty and initiate citizens arrest. I bet then he'd have no problems with a couple of gay men coming to his aid. This dude has really forgotten how close he is to being treated the same way he treated his gay passengers.
  • cereal
    This is as bad as getting kicked out of a cab for saying you hate the f%#kin' Eagles.
  • mamazboy
    Kick that neaderthal's ass out of his taxi. He doesn't deserve to provide any kind of public service to the public.
  • jaspervonspatula
    kick him all the way back to his own homeland
  • George_of_the_Jungle
    Where to? Pennsylvania?
    I have Muslim friends whose uncle served in Vietnam and lost his life serving this country. The entire family was born and raised in the US and their parents were born here too. Guess what? They don't have Anglo sounding names either.

    So why would you make such an assumption about the taxi driver?

    Your thought process is no better than his and your bigotry is no different than his.
  • Savantster
    .
    You'll be wanting to tear down the Stature of Liberty, then.. since it asks for people from foreign lands to come here.
  • GunTotinLiberal
    I guess we missed that part about the huddled masses yearning to impose their backwards dogma on the rest of us. Although I do agree, deportation would be too harsh, but clearly a progressive city like New York is not the best place for someone like this.
  • alverant
    Would this guy be as concerned if a man and a woman got in his cab and started hugging? Or would he want to watch?
  • damixaustex
    I wouldn't want anyone making out in my cab, gay or straight.

    Imagine if, say, Alan Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell started kissing and hugging in the back seat of your car.
    I'd be like, "ok, get the F#$% out of my cab!" EEEW!

    Bruno and Ruales need to remember that a cab is for a ride. Save the heavy petting for someplace more private.
  • Savantster
    .
    It is not illegal to show affection in public. Period. The driver has a job to do, drive.. not worry about the back seat of his cab.
  • damixaustex
    It's not illegal to talk on your cellphone while in line at the bank , buts it's pretty damned rude.
  • marzi
    Taxi drivers have to put up with a lot and he had a right to eject this couple who may have had the intention to have sex.
  • Savantster
    .
    Incorrect. You do not get to "presume" someone might commit a crime; people are innocent until proven guilty.

    and people kissing (or even having sex) in the back of a cab does nothing to the driver.. as noted above, he has a job to do.. and that's drive.. and that's IT.
  • GunTotinLiberal
    Short of passengers committing an illegal act, the taxi driver has no right to eject people from the cab. Your contention that he believed they may have intended to have sex is not reason enough. Additionally, the driver has changed his story several times about what happened, while the passengers have stuck by their story that they were doing nothing illegal. The driver needs to keep his eyes on the road. If that is too much for him, then he should find another job.
  • ayoungconservative
    To the taxi driver: I wholeheartedly support the decision you made, and I would have made the same one myself had I been in your situation. Stay strong, stick to your beliefs, and know that there are people in this world who share those beliefs.
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