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 who claimed a bus driver had allegedly directed homophobic comments towards him, has been reassured by the Diamond bus company that abusive behaviour from their staff is unacceptable, after he reportedly filmed the driver calling him a “queer”.
30-year-old Luke Williams was exposed to the drive-by homophobia last earlier this month on 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, had tweeted messages to Diamond at the time of the incident:
“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)
Although Luke hadn’t initially received a reply to his tweets, company spokesperson Sue Willdigg told I Am Birmingham they will be investigating the incident:
“Unfortunately, from the footage on the film we have been unable to identify the vehicle concerned, therefore we have contacted Mr Williams on Twitter to ask him to send us some more information about the exact time and location in order to assist us investigating this fully.
“We haven’t received a formal complaint (by letter or email) from Mr Williams and are waiting for him to get in touch with us, with any extra information he may be able to supply to enable us to investigate this further.
“We were sorry to hear of the incident outlined and this is certainly not the kind of behavior we consider acceptable from our employees.”
A Diamond bus similar to the one that drove past Luke Williams in Dudley Road (Photograph: Arriva436/Wikimedia)
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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