This Gay Man Says a Homophobic Uber Driver Called the Cops on Him for Using the Word ‘Darling’
A gay Washington D.C. bartender named Chris Williams says that on the night of Wednesday, June 27, his Uber driver told him to get out of the car after Williams called his grandfather “honey” and “darling” over the phone. When Williams tried to talk with the driver instead of exiting the car, he says the driver called the police and later drove away, leaving Williams to summon another car.
Chris Williams recorded the driver’s departure and posted it online. It has since been shared over 7,000 times.
Here is Chris William’s video of his Uber driver speaking with police.
As a gay man from Georgia, Williams says he sometimes drops terms of affection like “honey” and “darling” into conversation. He told Metro Weekly, “As soon as [the driver] heard the word, darling, he has to pullover…. I’m like, ‘Wait, this is new. This isn’t my stop,”
Williams claims the driver said, “You literally actually need to get out of my car, because I’m not taking you anywhere,” and then pulled over. When attempted to calm down the driver, he says he driver said, “If you don’t get out of my car right now, I’m going to call the police.” And the driver did.
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Williams says the police came and did “nothing,” so he started filming their interaction and labelled the driver “#BigotBob,” an alliterative name similar to other people recently filmed calling the police on innocent black people like “BBQ Becky,” a white woman who called the cops on black people grilling food at an Oakland park, and “Permit Patty,” a white woman who called the cops on a black eight-year-old selling water on the sidewalk “without a permit.”
In the video, Williams is obviously upset. He swears and recounts his side of the story while the police and driver mostly listen in silence. The driver then speaks quietly to police and leaves. The police filed no report in connection to the incident.
Williams said he has contacted Uber and Uber says it’s currently doing an investigation into Williams’ claims. Williams says that an Uber representative contacted him, stating that the driver accused Williams of being “overly flirtatious” and initiating “physical contact,” and threatening possible legal action. Uber has not commented on these alleged accusations.
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If #BigotBob did make those accusations, then they play on longstanding anti-queer archetypes depicting gay people as mentally unstable sexual predators.
What do you think of Chris Williams’ Uber experience?
