Aja (birth name Jay Rivera) — a drag queen competitor from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9 (best known for bitterly telling fellow competitor Valentina, “You’re perfect, you’re beautiful, you look like Linda Evangelista”) — was reportedly kicked out of a Lyft car for kissing her boyfriend, according to a recent tweet boyfriend.
Details of the Aja Lyft incident
In a Dec. 11, 2017 tweet, Aja’s boyfriend (who goes by the name Lizard Lemon on Twitter) wrote, “Me and @ajaqueen were told to get out a @lyft for being gay. Not kidding. The driver asked us to leave after kissing. In New York City. Really really disappointing.”
Aja retweeted her boyfriend’s message. Another Twitter user said that the driver was probably mad that he couldn’t join in the couple’s kissing.
Lyft responded immediately by telling Aja and to report the incident to the ride-hailing app’s Critical Response Line. They also followed up to ask if Aja had been able to reach the line, and asked her to send a direct message with the phone number of whoever requested the car so that the company could investigate.
Me and @ajaqueen were told to get out a @lyft for being gay. Not kidding. The driver asked us to leave after kissing. In New York City. Really really disappointing.
— Lizard Lemon (@ajaboyfriend) December 12, 2017
prob mad he couldn't join in
— Luther (@LxLuther) December 12, 2017
Please report this to our Critical Response Line by tapping the 'Call Me' button at https://t.co/93jojKlTCK.
— Ask Lyft (@AskLyft) December 12, 2017
The Aja Lyft incident has precedent
This isn’t the first time a gay couple has claimed that it was kicked out of a Lyft car due to a anti-LGBTQ driver. In Sept. 2016, a Lyft user named Matt Adler said that his driver kicked him out of his car a half-mile from his destination after the driver began making anti-Semitic and homophobic comments.
In March 2016, a Lyft driver in Phoenix, Arizona allegedly posted information about the whereabouts of a black transgender female passenger as a “word of caution to other hetero males” in a Facebook group for rideshare drivers. Lyft investigated the incident and the driver was subsequently banned.
Lyft has anti-discrimination policies regarding sexual orientation, race, nationality, religion, gender identity, disability or medical condition, marital status and age.
