Memphis Man Has Anti-Gay Slurs Hurled at Him by Uber Driver Who Allegedly Tried to Run Him Over

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The street outside of a popular Memphis gay bar was the site of alleged anti-gay verbal comments and attempted vehicular assault by an Uber driver last Friday. WREG reports.

Ray Rico was trying to head home from Dru's Place, a popular gay bar on Madison in midtown Memphis Friday night, when he had an altercation with his Uber driver.

It started when Rico entered the vehicle with a pizza box.

"As I sat down, he said '*bleep* no food in my car,'" according to Rico.

"He started cussing at me again," Rico told WREG. "And then he says '*bleep you suck my "bleep*'"

Rico quickly cancelled the ride, got out and called Uber for another car. Only this time, the same car showed up despite a different profile on the Uber app.

"Different profile, different picture. No car on the profile of the app," Rico explained.

As Rico went to snap photos of the car's license plate, the driver allegedly threw the vehicle into reverse and backed into him.

"I don't know if he had a problem with gay people why he was picking up from a gay bar," Rico said.

An Uber spokesperson sent the following statement on Sunday:

"The reported conduct has no place on the Uber platform and we're reviewing both parties involvement in the matter."

Rico's run-in with the homophobic Uber driver is the latest in a string of anti-LGBT incidences passengers have had with the company.

In June, EDGE reported that an Uber driver in Melbourne was fired after a lesbian couple recorded his anti-LGBT rant.

In September 2015, a gay couple was kicked out of a London Uber for kissing the the car's backseat.


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