CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
After complaining about a gay-themed ad on some city buses, a driver in Minneapolis has been given official permission not to drive any bus that carries that ad, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Citing the driver's religious beliefs, transit authorities called it a "reasonable accommodation" in an internal memo confirmed Tuesday by the transit agency, the Star Tribune reported.
The driver's union, Amalgamated Transit Unit Local 1005, is contesting the decision, saying the bus agency is condoning intolerance.
Drivers have never been excused from other buses carrying ads they found objectionable, from political candidates to pink bras, the union argues.
The ad in question is for Lavender Magazine, a local LGBT publication. It has run since last year on 50 Minneapolis buses and carries a photo of a young man with the slogan "Unleash Your Inner Gay."
The October 12 memo to dispatchers at the bus garage in Minneapolis listed 25 buses that carry the Lavender ad and said not to give them "under any circumstances" to the complaining driver, a new hire whom they identified only by her employee number.
"Our diversity office determined that we could make a simple, reasonable accommodation on religious ground by not assigning her (the driver) to one of the 25 buses--out of 150--at the Nicollet garage," Metro Transit spokesman Bob Gibbons said.
The transit agency has not threatened to pull the ad, Lavender CEO Stephen Rocheford told Gay.com.
But Michelle Sommers, Local 1005's president, said the agency is handling it badly. "If you start saying this or that ad is inappropriate, you're offending other people, and that can create a difficult environment for people to work in," she said.
"We have Muslim employees. Now if there's an ad for alcohol on the side of a bus, should Muslim employees be allowed to not drive that bus? And is the next step that mechanics don't have to work on the bus?" Sommers asked.
Rocheford said the ad's image, picked from 63 choices, was not meant to be provocative--"but anytime you say the word 'gay,' someone is going to make a fuss." So far, he said, the ads have been great for business.
"What would happen if Lavender's building was on fire?" he asked. "Would it be OK for a firefighter not to put it out?" (The Advocate)
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
21+ steamy photos of Scotland’s finest gay men in Elska Glasgow
February 01 2024 10:07 PM
More Than 50 of Our Favorite LGBTQ+ Moms
May 12 2024 11:44 AM
Conjoined twins Lori Schappell and trans man George Schappell dead at 62
April 27 2024 6:13 PM
Latest Stories
Record 1.2 million people show out for Cologne’s Pride parade
July 23 2024 10:51 AM
Here's how far-right activist Leonard Leo helped fund Bud Light boycott
July 23 2024 10:27 AM
Elon Musk’s comments about his trans daughter prove why she doesn’t speak to him
July 23 2024 9:16 AM
Nancy Pelosi endorses Kamala Harris for president
July 22 2024 4:07 PM
Charli XCX declares Kamala Harris IS brat & our next President's campaign agrees
July 22 2024 3:08 PM
Pete Buttigieg roasts JD Vance and his gay tech bro billionaire
July 22 2024 1:42 PM
The AIDs pandemic can be ended by 2030, but governments must act: report
July 22 2024 1:01 PM