Uber blocks transgender drivers from signing up: 'They didn't believe me'

Adrian Escobedo signed up to drive for Uber Eats to help support his family after his fiancee lost her job. The couple and their 4-year-old son had just moved to Bakersfield, California. Money was tight.

But after a lunch break on his first day, Escobedo found himself locked out of the app; his documentation had not been approved. Escobedo tried at least 20 times to resubmit the records, which included a photo of his face, copies of his ID and proof of car insurance, he said. Each time, they were denied.

"I was very confused as to what was wrong," Escobedo said. "I thought I was being messed with."

Then, looking over his documents, Escobedo figured it out: He is a transgender man, and his appearance in his older driver's license photo does not match the current photos he submitted, showing his wispy mustache and goatee.

Uber at times has blocked transgender and nonbinary people from driver and delivery jobs by treating their documents as fraudulent, suspending their accounts and failing to rectify the situation, according to interviews with half a dozen drivers and documentation provided by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, which petitioned the company to restore Escobedo's account.

Drivers have had their accounts permanently banned, according to documentation of written communications with the company shared by five workers. None managed to get their accounts reactivated through Uber's appeals process — one did with the aid of lawyers.

One driver had been working for Uber Eats for