Openly gay singer Sir Ari Gold, who is promoting his brilliant new album Between The Spirit and the Flesh got a taste of homophobia after a Shortline bus driver instructed him and his boyfriend Timothy Nelson, who were holding hands and listening to music together to move to the back of the bus because their hand-holding was "making him uncomfortable." Not only were the couple sharing an iPod and holding hands, but Ari also had his leg wrapped over Nelsons.
Says Sir Ari to The Village Voice columnist Michael Musto: "The driver told us if we wanted to continue sitting together, we had to sit in the back."
The driver took it even further by calling a state trooper on the singer. Really? Has it really come to this? The only good thing about this story is that the state trooper found nothing wrong with what they were doing. Honey, I've seen worse things happen on those traveling buses (like jerk off sessions and actual cock sucking), so holding hands with someone you are in a relationship pales to comparison. Gold wrote an update on his Facebook page that he will be filing charges against the company for discrimination. Take them for all their money, girl!
"Haven't reached anyone from Shortline yet-I'll call Lamda Legal to see if there's any action to take or at least make sure Shortline gives better employee training. I stood up to the driver despite my racing heart, I can only imagine what that might have done to someone who couldn't."
UPDATE: A reader received the following statement from Shortline regarding the incident.
To All: Please see the below response to Mr. Musto of the Village Voice from our President, George Grieve.
Mr. Musto: I wanted get back to you regarding the incident on one of the Shortline buses. I happen to be on vacation this week but I saw your e-mail and I wanted to make sure you got a response. I am the president of Hudson Transit Lines, Inc. which is the company known as Shortline. I wanted to assure you and your readers that we do not condone or endorse the actions taken by this one driver. His actions are not representative of the management of our Company. We will continue to investigate this incident until we are sure we have all the facts at which time we will take the appropriate disciplinary and remedial action. We apologize for the insensitive action of our driver and can assure you we will take the necessary steps to make sure this does not happen again.
George Grieve / President / Hudson Transit Lines, Inc.
Well I feel Ari should have his head on a plate and gets the justice he deserves, because with all the strides we've been making as far as LGBT civil rights, stories like this is a constant reminder that we as out and proud gay folks are still looked at as third class citizens. What I love about this story is that Florence Mattersdorfer of Livingston Manner, NY. and her husband have volunteered to stand up as witnesses for Ari and his boyfriend should this go to court. It's also a plus that they two are advocates for LGBT rights. See, interesting things happen when you least expect them to.
"It was certainly unprovoked in my opinion and it was [due to the driver's] personal bias," Mattersdorfer says. "He was offended by them. And I don’t believe that had it been a man and a woman he would have made an issue out of it because they were not doing anything at all that was inappropriate in my opinion."
Next time Mr. bus driver, keep your eyes peeled to the road where they belong instead of having sexual fantasies of wanting to join Ari and Timothy in a threesome. It might keep you from having a terrible, horrible accident. Sir Ari's excellent new album Between the Spirit and the Flesh is out now. If you want to read Ari's entire side of the story, you can check out his interview with the Advocate right now.
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