BC bus ad reminds turbaned passenger to give up seat to “pregnant people”
A British Columbia bus advertisement reminding passengers to give up their seats to pregnant women is raising eyebrows.
A British Columbia bus advertisement reminding passengers to give up their seats to pregnant women is raising eyebrows.
The poster, displayed on local buses, shows a turban-wearing man gesturing toward a seat for a visibly pregnant but gender-ambiguous figure.
The message reads: “Offer your seat to those who need it more,” and links riders to TransLink’s online etiquette guidelines.
On that page, TransLink states that priority seating near bus doors is reserved for people with disabilities, older people, those with injuries, and “pregnant people.” The use of gender-neutral language, rather than referring to pregnant women.
The guidelines further instruct passengers that “not all disabilities are visible” and say that if someone asks for a seat, riders should “take them at their word” and comply.
Abbotsford is home to a significant Punjab community. According to census data, 40.2 per cent of residents identify as belonging to a visible minority group, with 22.3 per cent identifying as Indian.
More than 34 per cent of residents report speaking a non-official language, and 66 per cent of those speak Punjabi — up from 61 per cent in 2016.
Wow. Abbotsford in my youth was a farming, white, Christian area. It was a bible belt area. Awful what the government has done to the country.