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Cab driver Medhat Mohamed has been given a bad rep for kicking a couple out of his cab, and now the NY Post's Andrea Peyser is standing up for him — giving him a lexical embrace, if you will.
After Paul Bruno (who she dubs as "media savvy") and his partner were asked to leave Mohamed's cab last week for what they say was just a hug, the couple filed a claim, accused the driver of discrimination, and contacted the press. By week's end they even had Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg labeling the driver as a "disgrace."
However, the driver says he would have done the same thing had it been a heterosexual couple, since their actions (which he says went beyond hugging) were distracting him from driving. He posed the question to Peyser: "Losing your job, or losing your life — which one is better?"
Peyser paints the picture of a hard-working, 38-year-old immigrant who is expecting his first child with his wife next month... which does make it difficult to discover he has already lost his job. He also may have his license revoked by the TLC, but Mohamed says he doesn't blame his former boss for telling him not to return to work, saying, "He doesn't want trouble."
Has the city judged too soon, and too harshly? Peyser asks: "If you support Medhat Mohamed, let your voice be heard. Call 311 and let the city know how you feel."
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it wasnt news in the first place. man thrown out of cab cause cabbie doesnt like kissing in his cab. so what? now father to be loses his job because of the non-incident...I guess its almost news now.
This is so stupid.
Discrimination against gay people exists, it is unfortunate, harmful, mean, and just all around bad.
I'm straight, but I could only imagine the difficulty of having to be in "the closet" living a lie. I don't intend on getting married soon, but I could only imagine how annoying it'd be if I found someone that I wanted to marry, and I was legally forbidden, because my choice of partner is unsavory to red-state hicks and ig'nant religious types, as well as the cynicism it must induce, in knowing the left leaning politicos like to pay lip service to my cause. I could only imagine, how painful it must be, to be portrayed in commercials as a "problem" or as a "predator" and that teaching 6th graders about people like me, brings tremendous controversy, as if my feelings and desires are poisonous. I'm not gay, but yah, I can understand that it might be tougher at times and yah, it sucks, you're gonna face some discrimination.
But this Paul Bruno guy sounds like a total piece of shit. You ruin this guy's livelihood because he kicks you out of a cab for "excessive hugging"? If I was going at it with my girlfriend, that just might happen to me too!
And really, Paul Bruno could dress like rainbow brite with a whistle, short shorts, and a boa, and he'd have less trouble catching a cab in this city then David Dinkins in a hoodie and sweatpants.
am i supposed to feel sorry for an intolerant muslim in my city? are you guys kidding me? there is no law against hugging, there is a law against discrimination. if you don't like gays don't move to nyc or sf. (i also can't believe that the post's hatred of gays trumps their hatred of muslims)
The point is though, there's no proof that this guy committed "discrimination."
If this were a criminal court, the prosecution has to prove their case beyond any reasonable doubt, if this were a civil action, Bruno would have to prove his claim by a preponderance of evidence.
But to get your livelihood taken away, you just need an unsupported allegation of gay discrimination.
That's my point.
Without opening up the Opression Sweepstakes too much, who do you think faces discrimination more in NYC? Well-connected gay PR types, or anybody with the last name Mohammed.
cabbie has to pick up passengers, its not a freelance job, its a service licensed and overseen by the TLC.
could a bus driver ask a gay couple to get off his bus, nope.
loose your job or your life,
id rather he loose his job. sorry, if some crazy nut is so distracted by two men hugging in such a way that impairs his ability to safely navigate the streets of nyc and obey traffic laws, then he shouldnt be driving a cab.
his story makes no sense,
if it made sense then how would you like to be in an accident as a hetero passenger or an celibate pedestrian while he claims that he was distracted by a gay couple hugging on the sidewalk.
im surprised by the post story, but andrea peyser is a well known party pooper
who writes an opinion column not news.
a ny post slanted news story would have detailed how
the cab driver is a tyrant from Iran, who sends his kids to the madrasa in burkas, and sends his children back home for female circumcision since no nyc doctor would perform it, all based on what Viane DelGado said.
Andrea Peyser is an imbecile. She also 'defended' the guy who kicked a cat to death last year.
I am waiting for Bloomberg to call HER a disgrace.
It sucks to be made the example, but maybe the next cab driver will think twice before he tosses someone to the curb for not agreeing with their lifestyle. Cabbies get away too much with doing whatever the hell they want.
That might be so, but they still have shitty jobs that take home meager wages while encountering all sorts of assholes pretty much everyday they are on the job. These gay dudes are not said assholes, but when my cabby throws a hissy fit (like how 2nd avenue was too clogged with traffic for him to want to take me downtown on a Saturday night), it's just not worth arguing or fighting back.
Let it go and feel sorry for him knowing that his life probably sucks more than yours. Now his life really sucks, whether or not he was being mean to the gays.
Huh? The cabbie gets paid to sit in the car and drive. Even in bad traffic, he is making money. He doesn't get to pick and choose the passengers or the destination. That's the job. You don't like it, fine, someone else will do it.
Let's be fair! Get the cabbie's side of the story!
Has anyone gone deeper here? I HIGHLY doubt it was just a hug. The passenger is trying to pull the innocent card and make the cabbie look like he's some violent kinad guy. This is NYC and I doubt the cabbie has the time or energy to even give a shit and would have kicked out a couple, gay or not, for JUST a hug. For all anyone knows it could have been a lot more going on there and who's to say it would have bordered something more obscene than a hug, or perhaps public lewdness. They could have been drunk and maybe only remember it as being just a hug.
Yeah, the cabbie was probably playing The Eagles on his radio. I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man. Yeah, that's the real story.
I doubt we would be having this conversation if the driver were catholic.
Or the couple heterosexual.
And anyway, Andrea Peyser's been thrown out of cabs for a lot less.