Gay teen couple made to sit apart on bus

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • November 5, 2007 - 15:13

The Stagecoach Group bus and train operating company is the second-largest in the UK. photo: Gene Hunt@flickr.com

21 Comments on Gay teen couple made to sit apart on bus

Two gay teenagers from Scotland are considering legal action after being humiliated on a late-night bus journey.

Steven Black, 16, and Mark Craig, 19, were told to get off the bus by the driver and then forced to sit in separate seats, according to the Sunday Mail.

"If we had been all over each other, I could understand - because that behaviour in public is not appropriate whatever your sexuality. But Mark just had his arm around my shoulder," Steven told the paper.

"I have never been so humiliated in my life. I just can't believe we are still made to feel like second-class citizens."

The couple chose to sit separately because they had no other way to get home.

The bus route from Aberdeen to Old-meldrum, Aberdeenshire is operated by Stagecoach.

A spokesman for the company told the Sunday Mail they will carry out a thorough investigation and discipline staff if necessary.

The travel company is part-owned by one of Scotland's most notorious opponents of gay equality, Brian Souter.

In 2000 Mr Souter, an evangelical Christian, donated half a million pounds to a campaign in Scotland to uphold Section 28, which banned the "promotion of homosexuality" in schools.

He cited his religious beliefs as justification for his actions, insisting he is not homophobic.

Mr Souter is a member of the Church of the Nazarene, a Methodist denomination.

The Stagecoach Group bus and train operating company is the second-largest in the UK with 16% of the bus market and 11% of the rail market.

In 2000, he funded a "poll" of Scottish voters, sending out nearly four million ballot papers on the repeal of Section 28. The campaign failed in its objective.

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