ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The company that runs the shuttle service to the Albuquerque airport’s rental-car center is apologizing after a driver allegedly ordered a gay couple to sit in the back of the shuttle bus.
Standard Parking Inc. said it respects the equal rights of all customers and doesn’t tolerate discrimination of any kind. It also said the driver was suspended after the company learned in July of the late June incident.
The couple, Ron McCoy and Chris Bowers of Portland, Ore., claim they were forced to sit in back of the airport shuttle bus because they were holding hands.
“I saw him look at us, look down at his hands and he looked so angry,” McCoy said. “He just blurted out at me, he goes, “Okay, if you’re going to do that, you’re going to the back of the bus.”
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The city’s Human Rights Office will look into the incident, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry said he believed the driver behaved inappropriately.
“We’re out there aggressively making sure this never happens again because this does not belong in Albuquerque, New Mexico,” Berry told KOB-TV. “This does not reflect Albuquerque, New Mexico, and as the mayor I’m upset about it, and we want to make sure we get to the bottom of it.”
The incident comes as the New Mexico Supreme Court considers a case involving an Albuquerque photography business whose owner declined to shoot the commitment ceremony of a lesbian couple.
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An attorney for owner Elaine Huguenin said gay marriage is against Huguenin’s religious beliefs, and she was exercising her rights to free speech and artistic freedom.
It’s unclear when the high court will rule.
