Dallas Airbnb Host Refuses Booking to Gay Couple
advocate.comAirbnb is looking into a complaint of discrimination at a property in Dallas, where the host refused to rent to a male couple.On Twitter, Curtis Kimberlin Jr.
shared the exchange his partner had over the weekend with the Airbnb host. Kimberlin’s partner, Jonathan, noted that the pair were coming to Dallas for a wedding and that Kimberlin, a Dallas native, would be showing Jonathan around.The use of the word partner apparently set off an alarm for the host, who responded, “So I’ll be hosting two men sleeping together … right?” The host, whose name was redacted in Kimberlin’s tweet, then told the couple they couldn’t stay at the property.
Responding to a query from online publication Travel Noire, which focuses on travelers of color, an Airbnb spokesperson said, “Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has no place on Airbnb, and we take reports of violations of our nondiscrimination policy incredibly seriously.”“We suspended this listing and host from the platform as we investigate further, and we have reached out to our impacted guests to offer our support,” the spokesperson added.There have also been other complaints of antigay discrimination as well as racial bias at Airbnb properties. “I once got a listing removed from Airbnb because they said they wouldn’t allow same sex couples in the description,” one Twitter user wrote in response to Kimberlin.
She said it was “insane that they could even post that in the first place,” but she was “glad Airbnb did the right thing by removing it.” Another commenter shared that he was turned away when a property owner “saw my brown face” after his white fiancé had made the reservation.Airbnb hosts are independent, but the company expects that hosts who use its platform.
