Political signage outside our homes

[Lucille46]

Hi all,

My shout out to this group is to ask your opinion on whether I should add some pictures of my political signs to my listing.  Someone knocked them down the other night (not a guest) and that made me a bit concerned.  I feel strongly about leaving them up.  Here's the history...

I recently put up a Black Lives Matter & a sign for my presidential preference along the road on my property.  For years I've been flying an LGBTQ flag

and no one has ever said anything negative about it.  The one I have currently has a field of 50 stars like the American flag & the LGBTQ colored stripes.

In fact, I've only had praise from guests who feel concerned when they travel and were so happy to be openly welcomed.

One of my former guests, who I've become friendly with, wrote to me that he thought those signs might make Airbnb guests feel uncomfortable and could risk alienating half of my guests.  His suggestion was to put up a generic "VOTE" sign.  He suggested I might not be comfortable renting an Airbnb with signs that were in opposition to my views.  (I thought about this & decided that I wouldn't have a problem with the signs, just an eye roll.  I would probably be less likely to interact with the hosts except on a surface level.  My own bias.)  I think his point is worth considering.  I wouldn't want bad reviews because people disagree with my politics.  Do you think adding photos makes sense and is necessary?

Hope to hear from some of you! 

Thanks,
Lucille

[Lucille46]

Thank you!

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592   "When I was little my grandparents always taught me that you don't discuss your religion, how much money you made or who you voted for. "

Yes, and children were to be seen and not heard, women should suck up all sorts of unwanted advances, we don't discuss "private" family business, like why Uncle Charlie spends so much time out in the garage with his 7 year old female niece, don't let on that you're gay, etc, etc. 

People are much more outspoken than they used to be in grandma and grandpa's day and that's not a bad thing.

Foisting one's views upon others, without being sensitive to whether they are interested or not, is another story.

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977 sorry but I don't think that looking the other way on child molestation is the same as being private about your political beliefs! Gee whiz.

I don't want to hear about people's religion or politics in general.  I don't enjoy discussing those topics. But thats me. I think its never a good idea to force someone into a conversation that has the potential to alienate them unless you have a comfortable enough relationship with them/enough in the "emotional bank account." I don't have that with 99% of my guests.  Maybe others do.

And discussing how much money you make? I still think that's a uncomfortable to gauche.  But maybe others like to share that information.  I don't know.  If anyone out there has a few million to spare and wanted to talk to me about it i might change my mind. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  Okay, that was admittedly a poor analogy. But what I was trying to say is that there were things which people considered to be extremely private and not to be discussed outside the family, or at all, that people are more open about now. 

I do agree that discussing one's salary or net worth is pretty crass and none of anyone else's business. But even that can go too far. I remember when I was about 11, I asked my dad how much money he earned. His response was that it wasn't anything of concern to me. But it would have been a great opportunity for him to sit me down and give me a lesson in household budgeting. He could have said, okay, this is what I earn, this is what is taken out in taxes, this is what we pay for food, utilities, property tax, etc. 

Because that was never taught to me (and I think there was a bit of sexism in that, too, like no reason to fill my pretty little head with that, that's men's affairs) it took me until much later in life to get savvy about money matters.

[Inna22]

I think there is a difference between political and humanitarian posters. I think a rainbow flag or those signs in multiple language I see around are a more of a humanitarian statement while support for a particular presidential candidate is a whole other (and very dividing these days) territory. Someone can be supporting the LGBT community and current president at the same time. Someone can be in the "support the blue" camp while being for the other candidate. To be honest, if I were choosing between two listings and one had a poster of a person for a political office in the listing (Is that even allowed? there might be some rules about that) who is not my candidate, I might not book. If I arrive and see it there without a warning I would cringe and should anything happen might interpret it through the prism of my inner negativity towards the host.

You need to decide why you are putting this sign and why you are running your airbnb. If this is a hobby and you don't really care about the money- put up whatever you want. If your poster will make enough difference and your potential lose of host income is in a way a donation to that political campaign- put it up. If you can not stand hosting someone who does not share your views- even more important for both sides that it is up. I personally believe that my space should be neutral in all respects. However this is what makes Airbnb wonderful- these are not identical faceless hotel rooms and we each make our space what we want it to be.

[Sarah977]

@Inna22 I'm going to have to disagree with you somewhat here, although some of your points I do agree with. If it's a entire place listing, then I think it's inappropriate for a host to put any sort of political signage.

But if it's a host's home, whether they consider their Airbnb business to be a hobby or whether they do it because they need the money, the fact is that when a guest books a home-share, they are guest in someone's home, with all that encompasses. If the host likes to cook something that you don't like the smell of, tough luck. If the guest is vegan and the host is a meat eater and that offends the guest, they shouldn't have booked without making that known. If the host has small children and that is evident in the listing, a guest can't book and then be upset because they don't like kids. 

And no, one can't be supportive of LGBTQ and also support the current administration, which actively makes moves to limit the rights of those who aren't heterosexual. And if one does, that's completely irrational.

[Inna22]

@Sarah977 may be not support, but rather vote is a better term. Lots of people vote for a president for lots of reasons, based on a particular agenda point. For example, most physicians are against universal healthcare. Since AIDS epidemic most medical schools have mandatory LGBT awareness/tolerance classes and most support the cause (or are at least not against it). Healthcare for this group would outway the LGBT issue and would dictate their vote. Obviously I am not speaking on behalf and about every single physician out there. 

I also do think a homeshare host should not be cooking stinky food. If someone must have durian for dinner once a week, it should be disclosed. Afterall, this guest is paying to be there and should be made comfortable. If they are vegan or can not stand little kids- that's something that is on the guest to vet prior to booking. 

You MUST come to Chicago and stay with us! I would love to have these discussion "live" with you

[Sarah977]

@Inna22  Thanks for the invite.  Would love to drink a bottle of wine with you and shoot the s**t. But I doubt I'll be coming to Chicago in this lifetime, although you never can tell where life might lead you.

How about you ditch the Airbnb and the family for a week and take a break all on your own and come stay with me?

[Inna22]

@Sarah977 why do you think you would never come to Chicago? 

We are thinking of getting a big dog. Ask me again I a few month- I might just be tired enough of everyone and everyone to take off for a week!

[Sarah977]

@Inna22  I'm a fan of big dogs. Have had several dogs in my life, and they've all been big ones. (My current dog, who's now 13, just appeared at my place as a 5 month old puppy. I had no idea she was going to get as big as she is) The only downsides are that they take a long time to bathe and that they make just picking up and travelling somewhere problematic.

Well, it's not specifically Chicago. It's that I have zero desire to enter the US at all at this point. While I know full well it is full of plenty of wonderful, sane people, I don't want to be in a country where private citizens seem to all be packing guns and one could pull it out and shoot you because you took their parking space or they thought you looked at them funny. And the US is one of the few places in the world where people have total meltdowns about being asked to wear a mask in the midst of a deadly and highly contagious pandemic. There's just way too many nutcases in the US for me. And that seems to be borne out when reading these forums. While no host anywhere is immune from getting a bad guest, US hosts seem to get, by far, the worst guests. 

[Inna22]

@Sarah977 funny you bring up guns. It was either getting a gun or a big dog after my son slept with a golf club in his bed and I instructed the kids to hid in the garden bin if I am not home and they are scared. That was after a few days of rioting and looting literally in front of our windows. It was the only saf(er) place I could think of because I could not tell them to just run outside if those people started to break into homes.

[Emilia42]

But rest assured the looting and mass protesting have had zero impact on the spread of the virus. Only the nutjobs who refuse to wear a mask while walking their dogs are continuing the deadly spread.

[Ann783]

Interesting question. I would not put political signage in front of a home I am renting on airbnb.  Largely, because as I guest I would find it over the top. I'm not apolitical at all. I'm pro-science, a pollworker, and a Black woman from an immigrant background. I think the Venn diagram of people who rent from me and support fascism/racism looks like O O.  For me, it's best to contribute a percentage of my proceeds to organizations that are doing the heavy lifting of supporting the causes I cherish.

[Lucille46]

Thanks again to all the people who have engaged in this conversation.

Since my Airbnb is a private suite in my home, it is my HOME first & foremost.

I did take photos & added them to my listing to give my future guests the

opportunity to decide on their own comfort level when choosing a place to stay.

I also messaged guests who had already booked to revisit the listing in ample

time before their stays.

The good news for me is that the two sets of guests I've had since the signage

has been up have heartily told me that they felt everything made this place one

of inclusiveness, not the opposite.  No one has cancelled.

As a white heterosexual woman,  I've never ever considered the possibility of a negative

reception from a host when I travel.  We take for granted our welcome.  I prefer to err

on the side of those who might need a more reassuring welcome!

Thanks again for engaging in this conversation.