Kiss & Go To Hell :: Taxi Driver Kicks Out Smooching Gays

A gay couple claims they were booted out of a Houston, Texas, cab Sunday after they kissed and that the driver told them they were going to go to hell because they are gay, ABC 13 reports.

Travis Player and his partner Andres Orozco were dropped off several blocks from their home after they were booted two locked lips in a taxi owned by the Yellow Cab Company based in Houston, Texas.

"We thought he was joking until he actually pulled over," Player said of the taxi driver. "We gave each other a kiss and he told us to get out of the car."

Orozco told the news station that the driver told the couple that he "doesn't give gay people rides."

"And he proceeds to tell us we're going to hell for being gay," he added.

Officials from Yellow Cab apparently carried out an investigation of the incident and released the following statement:

"Yellow Cab immediately investigated this allegation of discrimination, including talking to the independent contractor driver. The driver stated that he would have taken the same actions if it was a man and a woman in the taxicab. Evidently, the driver was overly sensitive to passengers kissing. Yellow Cab does not have a policy about passengers showing affection in taxicabs. In fact, we encourage kissing in our taxicabs."

The couple said they didn't pay the $6 cab fare but added they wouldn't be using the company in the future.

"We were expressing our love for each other and for someone else to jump in and clearly state it's not right, that really did upset me," Orozco said.

According to local LGBT activist Noel Freeman, the taxi driver is legally allowed to kick out a gay couple for kissing in Texas.

"There are no laws in the state of Texas that protect people from discrimination in public accommodations like cabs," Freeman told ABC 13. "So someone can be kicked out of a cab because they're gay, black, because they're a woman."

He said that in the last six moths, he's heard of four similar cases of same-sex couples getting kicked out of Yellow Tax cabs after showing affection.

ABC 13 points out Houston passed an equal rights measure that would have protected the couple but it was challenge and will go to trial in January.