Airbnb fights homophobia and transphobia with new policy
HOLIDAY rental company Airbnb has announced a 鈥渟tronger, more detailed non-discrimination policy鈥� that requires both hosts and guests to treat everyone with respect and without judgment or bias.
The policy requires both hosts and guests to agree to “treat everyone in the Airbnb community鈥� regardless of their race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age鈥攚ith respect, and without judgment or bias.”
Starting from November 1, users will be asked to agree to the commitment upon logging in; if they choose to decline, they will not be able to host or book with Airbnb, and will have the option to close their account. Airbnb鈥檚 blog states that if 鈥渋n the future you accept the commitment to inclusion, you鈥檙e welcome to come back.鈥�
The new non-discrimination policy is the result of a review conducted earlier this year that looked into how the platform could do more to fight discrimination among its users.
Airbnb faced backlash earlier this year after Danger & Eggs showrunner Shadi Petosky posted a message from a potential Airbnb host. The message explained that they would not be able to host her because of their 13 year old son potentially feeling discomfited by Shadi鈥檚 transgender identity.
A month before Shadi鈥檚 tweet, #AirbnbWhileBlack hashtag had highlighted the discrimination faced by black users of the platform, which sparked a wider conversation about how the sharing economy enables discrimination.
You May Also Like
They forgot to add marital status!
And biphobia too, because that’s totally a thing, and I’m really sick of everyone erasing it.