YouTuber Luke Williams was verbally abused and called a “queer” as he walked in Dudley Road (Image: OfficialLukeVlogs)
A young man from Oldbury in the West Midlands has expressed shock and anger after claiming to have been verbally abused by a ‘bus driver’ who allegedly directed homophobic comments towards him, reportedly calling him a “queer”.
30-year-old Luke Williams was exposed to the drive-by homophobia last Thursday (September 15) as he was walking in Dudley Road. Avid YouTuber Luke, who was filming himself at the time of the incident, was left shocked and disturbed after reviewing his footage to discover the driver of a Diamond service bus appeared to have hurled the slur.
Luke Williams has claimed this Diamond bus drove past him as the driver allegedly hurled homophobic abuse towards him (Image: OfficialLukeVlogs)
Sharing his experience of the incident, which took place in broad daylight, Luke said:
“I had spent the day in London attending a work meeting and decided to vlog my day. The meeting had gone well and, on my walk back from the train station, I was recording myself with my camera while walking down the Dudley Road, at about 6pm.
“I was giving an update about my day, what I got up to in London etc. and then, from the left of me, I heard someone clearly shout the word ‘queer’.
The incident was captured on video with the slur “queer” clearly audible. Luke uploaded the video to his YouTube channel as part of the highlights of his trip to London and his journey home. The incident takes place at 03:05.
“The voice and abuse came from a Diamond bus driver, who was driving past with the doors open. The bus appeared to be empty, like it was out of service. However, from my footage you can clearly see the bus drive past. At first, I was really shocked and so didn’t pay much attention. However, it wasn’t until I got home that I felt disgusted at the thought that someone working for the public would act this way.”
Luke Williams shared a vlog about the experience on his YouTube channel ‘Official Luke Vlogs’ (Image: OfficialLukeVlogs)
Luke, who works for the NHS, has tweeted about the incident to Diamond, but claims he has yet to receive a reply.
“I tweeted the company informing them of the abuse. However, they have yet to acknowledge. It’s disgusting to think that some Diamond drivers could be homophobic, and that I have to use this service every day to and from work.”
So an empty bus of yours just drove past me in Oldbury and the driver shouted out the window “queer” at me @diamondbuses . . .Please explain
— OfficialLuke (@OfficialLuke) September 15, 2016
Wow!! 2 hours later and still no acknowledgment!! I’ll be emailing tomorrow with my complaint of your homophobic employees @diamondbuses
— OfficialLuke (@OfficialLuke) September 15, 2016
Luke Williams from Oldbury was called a “queer” as he walked in Dudley Road (Image: OfficialLukeVlogs)
The Diamond Bus service is operated in the West Midlands as a subsidiary of Rotala.
In 2014-15, Police forces across the UK recorded 5,597 hate crimes against gays and lesbians, a rise of 22 per cent.
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Diamond bus company have been contacted for a statement and clarification in relation to the incident.
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