***Update***: The driver has been fired by Uber.

In a statement, Uber spokesman Grant Klinzman said that “Uber does not tolerate discrimination” and that the company has removed the driver’s access to its app.

…

A Christian driver for Uber kicked a gay couple out of her car Friday night after one woman kissed her partner on the cheek while they were on their way to a concert.

According to the customer, Kristin Gauthier, as soon as she gave her girlfriend Jenn Mangan a kiss, “Cynthia” pulled the car over and told the couple to “get out of my car.”

She asked why. “I won’t have that in my car.”

Have what? “You need to get out of my car because you are gay.”

That’s when Kristin turned on her camera:

Michele started recording a video right after that, in which she asks, “Are you kicking me out because I’m gay?” and the driver responds, “Yes, I am. Yes. Get out.” The driver said she was a Christian woman and “didn’t believe in that,” according to Michele, who then began filming. Mangan said she got out of the car right away while Michele continued arguing with the driver. The woman threatened to call the police, which Michele encouraged, but the driver never did, she said.

They ended up taking a train to the concert. Uber hasn’t responded in any detail about how the driver will be punished, if at all. It should be noted that discrimination against customers on the basis of their sexual orientation is prohibited, and a kiss on the cheek is hardly an offense that would be considered over the line for any couple, gay or straight.

The driver’s faith shouldn’t be a Get Out of Jail Free card here. There’s a legal debate still brewing over whether a bigoted Christian baker who runs his own business should have the right to refuse service to same-sex customers, but a bigoted Christian driver who works for a secular company has no business requesting a “don’t act gay” accommodation.

(Featured image via Facebook)

