A woman who was bumped by a bus at the start of today's transgender rights march in Auckland is confident it was not intentional, however she would like an apology from the driver for his behaviour. “I wasn't hurt, but I was initially a bit shook up,” Diane Sparkes tells GayNZ.com Daily News, explaining she is 74 and “not that steady any more”. The transgender rights campaigner says she was nudged by the side mirror of the bus while walking on Queen St with the rally. She was not impressed by the bus driver's behaviour in response to the road being full of marchers. “He was blasting away on his horn,” she says. “But there were all these people in front of him – he wasn't going anywhere.” The driver has stated he did not hit anyone, and Sparkes says it's unlikely he realised he had. “Look at the height of the bus and the height of me.” One of those who barred the bus's way remonstrates with a police officer Sparkes did not see a confrontation which followed the incident as she went to her car to pay for parking, before making her way back towards Aotea Square. In the meantime angry bystanders who saw her nudged by the bus had halted its path and held up traffic while they shouted at the driver. Several people amongst a crowd of pedestrians watching the confrontation shouted abuse at the group barring the bus's way. Police were called to the scene and Sparkes spoke to them when she came back past the area on her way to Aotea Square. Bystander Lisa Michelle agrees the driver had been closely tailing the marchers, honking continuously, and saw the side mirror “albeit gently” bumping Sparkes. “My gut instinct was to punch the bus - I'm okay, as is the bus - and then to manoeuvre the vehicle in between the bus and marchers.” Michelle then followed the marchers up to Aotea Square to provide security, and says the bus driver's behaviour was not ok, regardless of his valid frustration at being slowed by people on the street. Sparkes says while she doesn't necessarily want the bus driver to be charged, she would like an apology from his company, Gray Line. “It was a bit unfortunate I suppose, but I wouldn't want anyone to lose their job.” She is more interested in the march and rally itself, saying she believes the action was successful. “We got a message across about the whole concept of transgender people and what we're about”. You can read more of Diane Sparkes' thoughts on those issues here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 10th January 2015 - 9:19pm