Late this week, a Yorkshire (UK) bus driver refused to drive his bus because it had an ad on the side promoting the LGBT-friendly charity Stonewall:

I don’t have to add anything else and I’ll bet you already know the driver is a Christian. (Are you really surprised?)

Passengers spent 20 minutes stranded on a bus after its driver refused to board because of a gay rights message on the side. The unnamed driver would not get on the X78 from Rotherham to Sheffield because it bore a billboard for gay lobby group Stonewall, reading: ‘Some people are gay. Get over it!’ Passengers sat and waited while the driver argued loudly with colleagues and customers. … Stonewall information officer Louise Kelly said: ‘Passengers in Rotherham can rightly expect bus drivers to do the job they pay them to do — drive buses. ‘I just thought it was disgusting. He’s a bus driver — he’s going to come across all sorts of people. Does he seriously think he has never had a gay person on his bus?’ ‘If they are unwilling to, perhaps they should look for another job.’

Bingo. Everyone knows the bus driver isn’t automatically supporting the ads on the side on the bus. They have a job to do, and they can resign if they’re unable to do it. Just like pharmacists who refuse to dispense birth control pills, if you can’t do your job without invoking some “moral clause” that no one else gives a damn about, then find a different line of work. No one’s forcing you to violate your religious beliefs; you’re just being stubborn. Plus, you’re bad for business.

Being gay isn’t a choice, but being a bigot is.

It’s not the first time something like this has happened. Back in 2009, British bus driver Ron Heather refused to drive a bus because it featured an atheist ad on the side.



