Post by High Priestess on Sept 28, 2015 1:18:40 GMT
Joseph shared:
AirBnb Bans Host Who Evicted Gay Couple From Texas Home
cbsloc.al/1QPmjmw
Jordie:
Terribly uninformative piece of news journalism - but yay Airbnb!
Tom:
I applaud Airbnb as well. There should be no discrimination period.
It reminds me when I was in Florida trying to rent an apartment for a few months. I didn't know to laugh or cry when one landlady was faced with 2 interested couples for her place. She was very uncomfortable.
There was a mixed-race couple and a gay couple. And this was in gay-friendly Gulfport, Florida. (neither one of us got the place and I showed her financial statements)
The other time was when my wife and I were told we could have a vacation rental and to come on over. We drove over within 10 minutes but something strange happened.....when we got out of the car, the phone rang and it was the owner with a gruff reply, "Sorry, it was just rented!" I saw a curtain open and they must have seen that my wife was not white.
One more example and this happened in Long Beach, CA. I owned a condo and I rented to a lesbian couple. I was shocked when I started receiving threatening phone calls from the owner next door a few days later. It was simply unbelievable! I won't repeat the language used. I was sad for the couple and they moved after a few months because they couldn't stand the harrassement any longer.
I can go on and even provide a few examples of discrimination in San Francisco!
Thanks Airbnb. There should be zero tolerance for discrimination. We don't need them in our community.
JosePh:
You are right Tim,
but those are a few different examples you pointed out that are a bit different then the Texas case . In Posting for housing , you cannot discriminate in anyway for long or short term rentals , with one exception !
If you are the property owner and will be living in the unit during the rental period . IE, a Roommate situation . You get to chose whom you want to house with . Right or wrong this is how the law is . Say its a single women, that wants to have a roommate, she can make that request if she owns the property that she only wants a female roommate . So now , with airbnb rentals, you cannot promote bigotry or racism in your posting . That doesn't mean you cannot chose
who will stay at your property , you just can't make statements of your bigotry in your listing . There are bigoted and racist people out there , and they do use platforms like Airbnb . Thats why its important for Hosts to state that they are non discriminatory and a welcoming space .
Tom:
Good points Joseph. Maybe there could be a special symbol for hosts to use that shows they are non-discriminatory? I certainly understand the "comfortability issue" with shared spaces with a host. It is opening a "can of worms".
I just feel so uncomfortable with all these hidden meanings in listings. I find that if hosts were welcoming to everyone that hosts fears' and ignorance would disappear.
I remember attending a tractor pull in rural Kentucky with my wife and kids a few years ago on an extended road trip. My kids and wife were the only non-whites in the entire event. We even camped in state park with the same demographics.
People came up to us and said hello. We even saw an Obama sign-up table. People were very friendly and it was always a shocker to them that we were from San Francisco. Unfortunately, we have a reputation of being very snobby and arrogant (My Hawaiian friends constantly remind me of this
). They were surprised to learn that we were great fans of "blue grass" music and San Francisco hosts one of the biggest blue grass festivals in the world.
It will be our last tractor-pull event but I have to say that many people were very friendly and it was great meeting people in small towns acrosss America. It was an incredible 8 month road trip.
Joseph:
Well Tim,
The Greater GLBT Airbnb Community has discussed this issue and has asked Airbnb to look into having a Feature button or check box to allow GLBT guests to be able to use that feature as a Search filter . Not everyone wants to advertise their sexual orientation in their profile for safety and personal reasons . San Francisco is a Bubble when it comes to GLBT friendliness . Having such a feature will allow Guests to feel more secure in their travel choices world wide
to be able to know that they are welcome in that space . Also, having a symbol or filter feature to indicate that the host is a welcoming host regardless of Race, Gender , Age ,Etc would also be an added plus . Enlightened Hosts can also make it a statement in their listing .
AirBnb Bans Host Who Evicted Gay Couple From Texas Home
cbsloc.al/1QPmjmw
Jordie:
Terribly uninformative piece of news journalism - but yay Airbnb!
Tom:
I applaud Airbnb as well. There should be no discrimination period.
It reminds me when I was in Florida trying to rent an apartment for a few months. I didn't know to laugh or cry when one landlady was faced with 2 interested couples for her place. She was very uncomfortable.
There was a mixed-race couple and a gay couple. And this was in gay-friendly Gulfport, Florida. (neither one of us got the place and I showed her financial statements)
The other time was when my wife and I were told we could have a vacation rental and to come on over. We drove over within 10 minutes but something strange happened.....when we got out of the car, the phone rang and it was the owner with a gruff reply, "Sorry, it was just rented!" I saw a curtain open and they must have seen that my wife was not white.
One more example and this happened in Long Beach, CA. I owned a condo and I rented to a lesbian couple. I was shocked when I started receiving threatening phone calls from the owner next door a few days later. It was simply unbelievable! I won't repeat the language used. I was sad for the couple and they moved after a few months because they couldn't stand the harrassement any longer.
I can go on and even provide a few examples of discrimination in San Francisco!
Thanks Airbnb. There should be zero tolerance for discrimination. We don't need them in our community.
JosePh:
You are right Tim,
but those are a few different examples you pointed out that are a bit different then the Texas case . In Posting for housing , you cannot discriminate in anyway for long or short term rentals , with one exception !
If you are the property owner and will be living in the unit during the rental period . IE, a Roommate situation . You get to chose whom you want to house with . Right or wrong this is how the law is . Say its a single women, that wants to have a roommate, she can make that request if she owns the property that she only wants a female roommate . So now , with airbnb rentals, you cannot promote bigotry or racism in your posting . That doesn't mean you cannot chose
who will stay at your property , you just can't make statements of your bigotry in your listing . There are bigoted and racist people out there , and they do use platforms like Airbnb . Thats why its important for Hosts to state that they are non discriminatory and a welcoming space .
Tom:
Good points Joseph. Maybe there could be a special symbol for hosts to use that shows they are non-discriminatory? I certainly understand the "comfortability issue" with shared spaces with a host. It is opening a "can of worms".
I just feel so uncomfortable with all these hidden meanings in listings. I find that if hosts were welcoming to everyone that hosts fears' and ignorance would disappear.
I remember attending a tractor pull in rural Kentucky with my wife and kids a few years ago on an extended road trip. My kids and wife were the only non-whites in the entire event. We even camped in state park with the same demographics.
People came up to us and said hello. We even saw an Obama sign-up table. People were very friendly and it was always a shocker to them that we were from San Francisco. Unfortunately, we have a reputation of being very snobby and arrogant (My Hawaiian friends constantly remind me of this
). They were surprised to learn that we were great fans of "blue grass" music and San Francisco hosts one of the biggest blue grass festivals in the world.It will be our last tractor-pull event but I have to say that many people were very friendly and it was great meeting people in small towns acrosss America. It was an incredible 8 month road trip.
Joseph:
Well Tim,
The Greater GLBT Airbnb Community has discussed this issue and has asked Airbnb to look into having a Feature button or check box to allow GLBT guests to be able to use that feature as a Search filter . Not everyone wants to advertise their sexual orientation in their profile for safety and personal reasons . San Francisco is a Bubble when it comes to GLBT friendliness . Having such a feature will allow Guests to feel more secure in their travel choices world wide
to be able to know that they are welcome in that space . Also, having a symbol or filter feature to indicate that the host is a welcoming host regardless of Race, Gender , Age ,Etc would also be an added plus . Enlightened Hosts can also make it a statement in their listing .