What falls under discrimination?

[Mallory17]

Hi all-yesterday I wrote about a rather bizarre refund request. I have an unexpected update that I’d like to share and get thoughts on...

It turns out that this guest left early due to her religious beliefs, not a family emergency as she claimed. 

In my Home, I welcome everyone, no matter their beliefs etc. I have a social justice sign in the front of my house that states I believe “Love is Love, Black Lives Matter, No Human Is Illegal etc.” and I have one piece of rainbow decoration that perhaps very abstractly seen as pride memorabilia by some. Otherwise it’s just plants and ordinary decorations. 

This group also rummaged through a lot of my personal belongs that most guests wouldn’t even consider going through. She later admitted they were looking for more evidence to confirm their “suspicions” (I lock everything important up to be safe, but still...). 

I feel sad, like this person discriminated against me because I don’t share the same beliefs. Should I involve AirBnB? I already gave her a thumbs down review after I discovered they had gone through my belongings. Do I just let it go? 

[Dawn33]

Wow! 

As a Christian, I am saddened by this type of judgmental “believer” —— her behavior is an incredible to disservice to any faith.

Leave a review to warn others.

You are incredibly kind to refund her. She would have received nothing from me as a host.

[Letti0]

@Mallory17   I think in this case you should report/flag the guests and contact AirBnB. This is not acceptable behavior. I am betting they are setting you up for a full refund. You need to strike first. They are going to claim religious discrimation would be my guess to get a free stay. They have probably already put in a claim.

Here's how to sign up with Twitter:  https://help.twitter.com/en/create-twitter-account

Once your account is created log in to Twitter click on the little box on the top righthand side that says search twitter. Type in AirbnbHelp  and hit the enter key. Click on the righthand side the little tab that says follow and hit enter. Then on top will be a Messages click on that and start a conversation. Type in air and click on AirbnbHelp then next send a direct message with all the information you have put in the message. Then hit send. It sounds complicated, but it's really not only about 5-10 minutes and once set up it's instant to contact them via message just by logging into your Twitter account. 

[Mallory17]

@Letti0 Thank you so much for the help & advice. I was able to get in touch with AirBnB. They were supportive. I am lucky that she said everything so explicitly in the messaging system. Hopefully they will back me up if she chooses to leave a nasty review. We shall see. Thanks again for your support! 

[Lisa723]

Airbnb should ban this person from the platform.

[Mallory17]

@Lisa723 I am hopeful they will. It’s hard to imagine many Homes will suit her needs. It’s also an unfair position to put future hosts in, in my personal opinion. 

[Noel63]

This is horrible. She shouldn't be using Airbnb if she wants to discriminate against gay people (or any people for that matter). Has she already left you a review?

[Mallory17]

I agree-thank you for the support. I did let her know that AirBnB has a non-discrimination policy and that her behavior wasn’t following suit with that. She hasn’t left a review yet, but I had already left her a thumbs down review myself when I discovered the amount of rummaging they had done. I was fearing they were looking for money or personal information (luckily I lock those up in a safe)...I could never have imagined this! 

[Mel101]

At first I was thinking that she'd misheard the sermon on the mount, and believed Jesus had said "Blessed are the sneaks, for they shall inherit free berth", but I forgot her blatant disregard of the eighth commandment (the one about not bearing false witness)

I'm sorry that you encountered this rude and intolerant guest, and I hope Airbnb back you up fully. And that you never get such an intolerant, underhanded and down right nosey guest again.

[Mallory17]

@Mel101 thank you so much for the supportive message! 

[Fred13]

@Mallory17 Needless to say, these folks are ignorant zealots, probably on some type of personal crusade. Of course, the resultant perusing of your place is way out of line, the reasons for it they gave are nothing short of moronic. 

   Having said that, we are in the accomodation business and despite the fact it happens to be in our personal places, we all should be aware of what we 'ask' of our guests. Hosting through Airbnb is not a 'cause'.

   If I show up picking up my guests which I am only hosting with a T-shirt that said 'Black Lives Matter' or 'No Human is Illegal',  I would be asking my guests to not only to see me as a good host which I am, but also to deal with my personal beliefs which I assure you many will not appreciate, nor think is fair of me to do. 

   You come across as a lovely good-hearted person, but when you put a sign right in front of your place about your personal political beliefs, you are indeed asking of your guests to deal with potentially personal differences that perhaps need not have come up in the first place. 

[Mallory17]

@Fred13 I appreciate your perspective and can understand your point. 

To me this sign sends the message of acceptance, but I know that not everyone will see it that way. This is my Home that I rent out while I am away and I did indeed think about it before I put it up-will people be rubbed the wrong way by this? In the end I felt that these messages are important enough and I cannot be scared off by the (seemingly) small pecentage of people who will hold this against me. If it costs me the extra income I gain from AirBnB, then I will accept that (although I would consider it a sad fate if these messages are truly the cause). And where would I stop with hiding my beliefs?. Should I hide the fact that I am gay as it might offend someone? That would become very sad. It’s such a grey area of wanting to make people happy vs. being able to be open with who you are. I just hope that if it does ever present an issue in the future, the guest will give me the respect of being honest with me and not take advantage of my kindness. Thank you for your response. It is  always helpful to get many different points of view on these types of issues.

[Paige73]

@Mallory17 Be more gay in your listing! Just really put it out there, rainbow flag, whatever. I wear a headscarf so my picture makes it pretty clear I'm Muslim. Lo and behold! Not a single bigot! If my headscarf can act as bigot repellent, so can your gayness (did I just make up a word)? Btw That's a freaking cute dog.