2 girls kicked off Ore. bus for kissing

A transit agency chief apologized Wednesday to two teenage girls who were kicked off a city bus for kissing each other.

The girls, both 14, said the driver called them “sickos” after a female passenger complained about their kiss. The driver then stopped the bus along the street and forced them off.

“Removing the girls from the bus was not consistent with our policy,” said TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen. “I want to reiterate that we welcome all riders on our system.”

The 64-year-old driver also violated company policy that requires operators to call for assistance before removing any minors, TriMet said in a statement.

The driver, an 11-veteran who was not identified, will be disciplined, TriMet officials said, though no details were released.

“TriMet sincerely apologizes to the girls and their families for this incident,” Hansen said in the statement.

The mother of one of the girls, Ronnda Zezula, welcomed the apology.

“The only thing I had a problem with is they didn’t really address why the driver broke those policies,” Zezula said. “He knew it was wrong. He’s been a driver for 11 years.”

She also said she wished the agency had made the extent of the disciplinary action public to show it will not “be just a slap on the wrist.”

Zezula said the family has been encouraged to consider a lawsuit, but they will “have to mull it over.”

via [Yahoo]

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21 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

Today they had this case on Cristina’s Court tv show. And I call BS on some of their claims. Especially the part where Jocelyn claims the bus driver hit her on the foot/leg, if that was true he’d be arrested for assault on a minor PERIOD! But since he was not, I do not believe he touched them at all. She embellished. Plus all we keep hearing is their side, what about the other party’s side?

1. SmokerKat on December 3rd, 2007 at 4:19 pm
so what if they want 2 kiss let them kiss even thow thats nasty but let them be

2. Diamond on November 6th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
omg who gives a fuck about 2 ppl of the same sex making out on a bus….that just makes no fuckin since…i mean….im bisexual…doesnt mean anything….even if i was straight….i wouldnt care who did what…its just a harmless fuckin kiss..

3. Gage on July 25th, 2007 at 2:32 am
Damned right it’s hot. That Steve guy reminds me of that pretentious, uptight bald eagle puppet on The Muppets. Heh, heh. Always lifting himself up by making himself out to be morally superior… But seriously, other than the obvious hotness of the underage makeout sweeties, geez, what’s wrong with people, why are they so uptight? Unless they were being, shall we say, too blatant, like digging for oil in their tonsils…

4. backstrum on July 5th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Oh, god, 14!!! That is so HOT! I wish I had been on that bus, oh yeah!!!

5. blackburn on July 4th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
afrodream, I’m not sure if you knew this or not but things have to have a law against them, not for them. I know that in the conservative world you would like to live in these kids would need a law protecting them so that they could kiss but thats not how it is. There are no laws against people kissing in Ore. no matter what the age.
I’m a guy and if I wanted to get on that bus and kiss my girlfriend there wouldnt be a damn thing you could do about it. The same rules apply for lesbians.

6. Demosthenes2010 on June 22nd, 2007 at 7:22 pm
afrodream –
since when does part of the description of the job ‘bus driver’ include the authority to make judgements on the actions of the riders as moral or immoral? Legal or illegal is a different story…certainly it is within the driver’s authority to stop illegal activity. But immoral activity? He’s a bus driver, not a priest. He should mind his own business.

7. bryan on June 22nd, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Actually, minors do have rights. A 14-year-old heterosexual couple would not be kicked off of a bus merely for kissing, and it is unlawful for a homosexual couple to be treated differently. Of course, the driver is always right to stand up for his beliefs (in this case, kicking kids off the bus) – it’s called civil disobedience – but a key part of civil disobedience is willingness to accept full consequences from the law for disobeying it.

8. Claire on June 22nd, 2007 at 2:02 pm
@dantasim

This was in Portland, OR. My hometown. It was on the #12 bus which also happens to be the bus I ride to and from work. Its sad since I consider the city I live in to be very liberal and accepting, but at the same time, all the news here seems to focus on the girls story. If that’s all there is to it, by all means I support whatever consequences the driver gets. On the other hand though, there could have been more to the story that isn’t being told.

9. Solipsist on June 22nd, 2007 at 1:45 pm
To those stating that this situation was “hot”: Their 14. You guys should be the ones kicked off for being sickos.

10. Steve on June 22nd, 2007 at 1:17 pm
@Afrodream

Congrats, that’s probably the most incoherent comment I’ve ever read on any site about any topic. You should be proud. And by the way, there aren’t age limits to discrimination.

11. Anthony on June 22nd, 2007 at 1:14 pm
City as Portland, OR by the way. I guess not EVERYTHING is “legal there”, or at least accepted.

13. jonolan on June 22nd, 2007 at 10:11 am
It’s about what you have to expect; company policy may state one thing, but individuals’ personal ethics & beliefs will often cause them to override the company policies.

Societal Intorelance – it’s an important lesson that the girls were lucky enough to learn at little cost to themselves.

Unless this story gets a lot of attention or the families file suit against the company, I wouldn’t expectthat the driver will recieve more than a slap on the wrist. It’d be nice if he did though!

14. jonolan on June 22nd, 2007 at 10:09 am
Uh, they were fourteen – so no they weren’t hot.

15. Bill on June 22nd, 2007 at 7:14 am
what city did this happen in? Story doesn’t mention it.

16. dantasim on June 22nd, 2007 at 6:44 am
It might not have been the best to kick them off first, he should have just told them to stop. It’s saddens me to hear about young people like that becoming homosexuals. Maybe they can get help.

17. JeffH on June 22nd, 2007 at 6:26 am
DUDE, What the hell happened to Gay-Lib? That bus driver had no right to do that!

18. Shedtroll on June 22nd, 2007 at 4:57 am
I guess it’s not wrong 4 the 2 to kiss 4 the sake of passion of sisterhood but not 4 Lesbianism. They are underage & i think there is no law tht can protect them at tht stage.

It’s immoral and uncalled 4. I guess the drive broke the law coz he was puss 2 the wall 4 the uncalling behavior.

Man made the laws but circumstance sometimes always make him or her to break them.

19. afrodream 'n' beaded on June 22nd, 2007 at 3:31 am
If I had a bus company, I sure as hell would want chicks making out on my buses. That is a hell of an amenity! Usually you have to pay them for that kind of thing.

20. atheinostic on June 22nd, 2007 at 1:22 am
The question that we would all like to know, is such: were they hot?

21. Jeff on June 22nd, 2007 at 12:44 am
Thats hot

22. Davo on June 22nd, 2007 at 12:18 am

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