A public rail network have removed all adverts for cruising website Squirt from their trains.
Adverts for the hook-up app had been running in throughout Toronto since June 10 and were recently introduced to subway trains.
However, last week, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) removed all posters from their trains, claiming they encouraged gay commuters to “break the law”.
“The ad was taken down as it promoted sex in public places, which is against the law,” TTC spokesperson Danny Nicholson told Metro News.
Pink Triangle Press – owners of Squirt and publishers of the Daily Xtra – say the were shocked by the sudden move, as the were not provided with the complaints’ contents.
“Yelp also has cruising listings, but I very much doubt the TTC would remove a Yelp ad,” argued marketing director Andrew Nolan.
“We run ads in the UK, the Netherlands, Australian and New Zealand and we’ve never had any problems.
“So to have them removed in a diverse city like Toronto was disappointing,” he added.
According to the TTC at least ten customers complained after the ads – showing shirtless men embracing – started to feature on subway trains.
This has led some users to accuse the TTC of buckling to pressure from the city’s homophobes, as opposed to its law-concious citizens.
However, without further information from the TTC, Nolan stated that he did not want to speculate about the possible homophobic background to the advert’s removal.
