@Gordon0 You may not want to publicly answer this, but I'm curious- did this profile vanish soon after because you reported it as discrimination, or did it just get caught by Airbnb? I mean, I know they don't just read all the messages people send, unless it is called to their attention for some reason. And an algorithm can't pick up the nuance of a message like this.
I can see where if a guest reports this discrimination it would lead to the host being delisted, but if the guest either doesn't catch it as discrimination, or doesn't report it, don't you think there are hosts still getting away with this?
And could you explain what the difference is between this host being able to see a profile photo of you before booking, or after, has to do with it? Because your profile photo doesn't include your partner/husband- she responded the way she did after reading your booking message.
And if your profile photo did include a photo of your partner, and she could see it before accepting your booking, and declined, what's the difference to you? Prejudiced is prejudiced, why would it matter if you were declined before or after the booking was confirmed?
There have been several posts on the forum regarding this profile photo issue from guests who are in demographics which get discriminated against, who have said they would prefer to be declined by a racist or homophobic host before the booking is confirmed, rather than after.
And what about hosts who may have tons of listings, use IB, and don't really pay much attention to a guest's messages? If you booked a place like that and arrived to find the host was taken aback that you and the man you arrived with were going to be sharing a bed, wouldn't you have preferred not to put any $ in this host's pocket in the first place?
I seriously doubt if the majority of hosts out there are discriminators, I just don't see why all hosts have to have what they may consider a valuable tool taken away from them just because some hosts may be prejudiced.