Ohio Man Confronts Bus Driver Who Kicked Him Off “For Being Gay”

"This woman is vile and disgusting, and she has no business working for COTA."

From: NewNowNext

 An Ohio man who claims he was kicked off a public bus for being gay earlier this week believes he was targeted because he was wearing makeup, and surveillance footage released by the city of Columbus appears to back up his claim that he wasn’t doing anything wrong before the driver pulled over and demanded he get off.

The man, Benjamin Purdom, uploaded a video of his bizarre interaction with the driver moments after she pulled the bus over to the side of the road and called the police.

In the video, Purdom explains that he was sitting in the back of the bus working on his smartphone when the driver randomly accused him of “doing something back there,” though she never elaborated on what he was doing. Purdom and the only other passenger on the bus, who was seated near him, seem equally confused about what’s going on.

Purdom wrote on Facebook: “I’m quiet for a few seconds because I’m so confused; I was just sitting there, texting, looking around and minding my own business, trying to get to work. I reply ’Ma’am, I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ and she replies ’Oh, that’s what they’re supposed to say.’ I say ’No really, I legitimately have no idea what’s going on, can you please tell me what you think I did?’ and she refused to tell me.”

“I’m not going to accept you being on the bus and assault me,” the woman is heard saying in surveillance footage. “And then sit there like you’re doing nothing, but my body knows you’re doing something.”

“I honestly do believe that I was kicked off the bus because I had makeup on,” Purdom wrote on Facebook. “I noticed her ’I [heart] 3 Jesus’ lanyard and I strongly suspect the reason she was being so vague is because she knew was committing a hate crime, but had no way of justifying it.”

The Columbus Dispatch notes the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) is investigating the incident and “will take appropriate action” if they find that the driver violated the organization’s strict policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.

According to Purdom, the same driver was operating the bus the following day when he rode it, and there was no further incident.

“Literally, all I want is just for her to not work there anymore,” he told The Dispatch. “One, I don’t want to have to deal with her, and nobody else should have to deal with her.”

You can check out surveillance footage from the bus as well as Purdom’s first-person video below: