Drag Race UK’s Choriza May and Elektra Fence ‘cancelled on by Uber driver’ for wearing drag: ‘It keeps happening’
“We were standing there like, ‘what the f**k?’”
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’s favourite Choriza May has claimed she and co-star Elektra Fence were cancelled on by an Uber driver for wearing full faces of make up.
The season three queen managed to capture a picture of the vehicle in question as he tried to drive off.
Alongside the car, and a pic of herself, Choriza wrote on Twitter on Monday (18 September): “Just a bit of homophobia to finish off Fashion Week.
“This @Uber driver just seen me in drag and canceled the trip right in front of my face then drove off. Just lovely 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 @Uber_Support.”
“You’re always going to find arseholes anywhere and find lovely people anywhere too” – Choriza
She told Attitude of the incident: “I was in a full face [of make up], and Elektra Fence was with me. Her hair and make up was done as well.
“It was one of those days where you feel safe because you’re surrounded by queer people on the runway, lots of quirky people. It was very nice, felt like a safe space day.”
The pair had a fairly long trip ahead of them, and went to book an Uber after lunch. However, when the driver arrived and spotted them, he started to move away.
“We were about to cross and Elektra says, ‘He’s cancelled [the trip]’. I said, ‘What do you mean?’ I look at my phone, and it says the Uber app is looking for another driver.
“Unluckily for him, the traffic light went red. He had to stop there awkwardly while we were standing there like, ‘What the f**k?’”
That was when she decided to take a photo of the driver, knowing she was about to report the incident. She also posted it on Twitter.
“The same morning, we tried to get a black cab, in wigs, we were wearing full costume, and it was impossible”
Choriza alleges this isn’t the first time that day they’d struggled to get a taxi, either.
She added: “This has happened to us before. The same morning, we tried to get a black cab, in wigs, we were wearing full costume, everything and it was impossible.
“Elektra even walked to a car and told them where we were going, only 10 minutes away but in full costumes and heels, it’s a little bit more than 10 mins. We couldn’t get it.
“It was the second time it happened to us in that day so I thought, I’ve had enough, so I’m going to tweet about this and hold this company accountable for these things that keep happening,” Choriza explained.
She’s received many messages of support from the drag community and beyond, with fellow kings and queens sharing similar experiences.
Choriza confirmed Uber has messaged to apologise for the driver’s actions, and made it clear it would be escalated further.
However, she does “not know what the solution is” to such incidents: “Uber makes a lot of Pride campaigns with drag queens.
“When it comes down to us using their service, if things like this are going to happen to so many of us it’s quite ridiculous, it’s very very sad.”
The duo managed to get to their destination with the help of a much nicer driver, with Choriza concluding: “Another Uber came around and he was lovely, asked what I did and was nice.
“You’re always going to find arseholes anywhere and find lovely people anywhere too.”
An Uber spokesperson said: “What has been described is totally unacceptable and we are investigating this incident.
“Uber has a zero tolerance approach to any type of discrimination and any driver found to have behaved in this manner risks being removed from the platform”.