Uber Driver Fired After Kicking Out Passenger For Being Gay In Viral Video

Ms Gauthier and Ms Mangan (pictured above) from New Jersey were travelling from their home to a Zac Brown Band concert last Friday night when the incident occurred.

The video quickly went viral, with thousands offering their support to the couple following the awful encounter.

Alongside the video, Ms Gauthier wrote on her Facebook page, "This woman picked me up as my uber driver. We took off. I gave my girlfriend a kiss on the cheek and she pulled the car over and said 'you need to get out of my car.'"

Ms Gauthier wrote, "[The driver] said 'I won’t have that in my car.' I asked what she was referring to. She said 'you need to get out of my car because you are gay.'"

In the video itself, Ms Gauthier can be heard asking, "Are you kicking me out because I’m gay?"

To which the driver replies, "Yes. Yes I am."

Ms Gauthier can be heard saying, "You’ve gotta be f***ing kidding me. It is 2019 [and] you’re kicking me out because I’m gay."

To which the driver, Cynthia, responds by assaulting Ms Gauthier's phone and claiming, "This is my personal [car]," before screaming at Ms Michele to get out of the car.

Despite the driver's claims that she could reject who she wanted due to it being her personal vehicle, this was not the case.

An Uber spokesperson released a statement to the New York Post saying, "Uber does not tolerate discrimination in any form and we have been in contact with this rider. We removed the driver’s access to the app as soon as we were made aware of this incident."

Ms Gauthier wrote that what had particularly angered her about the driver's behaviour, was that she had used her religious beliefs to justify her hateful action:

"Thank you everyone for proving that love is stronger than hate and thank you for the support. [...] I posted this because I was infuriated that someone could be so mean and put that reasoning on their religious beliefs. I believe God loves everyone no matter who they are or who they love."

Ms Gauthier and Ms Mangan explained that they wanted to thank the company for their prompt and effective response to the video and the couple's complaint. They also asked people not to blame the company, and for people to, "Keep spreading the love."

The guidelines on their website clearly state, "It is unacceptable to refuse to provide services based on characteristics like a person’s age, color, disability, gender identity, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected under relevant law."

Hopefully Ms Gauthier and Ms Mangan will never experience any such discrimination again. It is unsettling that in this day and age people such as the driver in the video still hold such beliefs.