Steve - I guess what bothered me was your comment that you did not understand why a gay guest would stay with a straight host when there are plenty of gay hosts out there. Is there some box to check that you are gay or straight when you book? Sure, there is plenty of discrimination in even the most liberal, forward thinking communities, but how would a host even find out if a booking is gay?? I am just not getting why you think Gay people should try to seek out gay hosts??
- Compatability letâs get real here, is a Jewish guest more comfortable staying with a jewish host or a muslim host? you tell me!, Same applies to sexual orientation often. Airbnb is not a free love centre a lot of human issues come into a booking that are real life. Airbnb allows the host to request a booking request, often itâs a silent discrimination option that they can get away with to suit Hosts $$ who are there money supply. Many less people would use Airbnb if they werenât allowed to be given a REJECT button. Like Facebook allows you to block people same deal.
2)You can find out, loads of ways to find out a person real identity, check the guest requests social media account a simple google search, you can find out tonnes about someone.
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Donât do pets! or COUPLES with pets! Iâve NEVER had a good experience with them. Expensive cleaning, expensive repairs, odors, etc. Ugh.
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The fact that you used the term âsexual preferenceâ speaks volumes.
what are you trying to say Jack
@jackulas - I apologise, is that offensive in the US? Or politically incorrect? Please let me know because I think we have that phrase in our listing and the last thing we want to do is offend.
I am so glad you asked. As a matter of fact, the term fell out of favor here in the States over a decade ago as it implies that being gay is a choice and not a trait you are born with. While I am not one who usually gets hung up on political correctness, itâs important to stay aware of these things as a business person to minimize risk of offending potential clientele.
Nowadays, you are much better off using the term âsexual orientationâ or better yet just LGBT (lesbian gay bisexual transgender). Honestly, i may be old fashioned, but I donât know what was ever wrong with just saying âgay,â but you know how it goes. Sooner or later, someone will find a problem with LGBT (they already haveâŚtheyâve started tacking on Q at the end for 'questioning). Thatâs America for you. Lol.
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to the idiots complaining when their guests have sex-youâre in the wrong business. start a geriatric care facility instead.
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I avoid any host that has bad reviews written about them. You?
I find it strange that a service provider-YOU-can be picky about whoâs money you are willing to accept. In our free market system there are more people providing services and chasing dollars then there are customers willing to spend money. Just write in your description NO ONE under 30 wanted. 24 hour party house. That will get the message across.
Jackulas, I was puzzled by the Q as well⌠after spending my life in San Francisco, I stayed abreast of what was PC pretty well, but things change fast. I agree with you on our need to be professional. It was explained to me that the Q was kind of an umbrella term to cover all of the LGTB community. Since it can be offensive to others, it is just used by community members, or tacked on the end. 
Thank so much @jackulas - although Iâve been in the States for many years I still get confused about âcorrect terminologiesâ. I was once snapped at quite severely in a coffee shop when I asked for a cup of black coffee. The server (which at one time I would have called âthe waitressâ) growled back âyou mean coffee without milk. You canât say black coffeeâ. Blimey,
What we have in the listing is âWe welcome all guests regardless of gender, national origin, or sexual orientation.â (I think I was concentrating more carefully when I wrote the listing than when I posted above!) Do you think thatâs better than saying gay-friendly? I SO hate labels though 
HA HA! Now, I have to admit thatâs a new one to me! I have never been to a part of the States where you canât say âblack coffee.â I still order it all the time on domestic flights, and nobody has corrected me yet. It sure is hard to keep up.
RE: your question: I think it depends on your goals. I donât put gay-friendly, because I fear it would connote to people that i am marketing only to gay clientele. Instead, I am pretty open about who we are as hosts (i.e., âlet a friendly gay couple be your guidesâŚâ) and that we donât discriminate âwe have hosted all typesâŚâ
I have no qualms about sharing my listing in case anyone wants to take a look: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7663284
Yep, true! I felt like pointing out my purse and saying âthis is my without-milk handbagâ.
I guess Iâm still not sure about the best wording for our listing. Iâm the same as you - I wouldnât want potential guests to think that we rent exclusively to gay guests but I DO want to make sure that we donât miss out - because Fort Lauderdale is a popular LGBT destination. Forty percent of the apartments in our complex are gay-owned, including two that I manage, so we are without doubt a gay-friendly location. Also, some apartments are lived in year-round by gays and all owners here are long-term, we all know each other well and socialise together so the non-gay residents have no weird hangups.
By the way, I love your listing!
THANKS! And, as a gay man, I am a huge fan of Ft. Lauderdale. I will have to look you up the next time Iâm over there.
Do! Thereâs always a bottle of wine on the go and cold beers in the fridge
Fort Lauderdale is a fantastic place to be.
This is our rental - not as lovely as yours but pretty cute:
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Agree totally there, nice post.
Sometimes you can be, it comes down to bargaining power, and often things are not black and white.
Golf clubs can be biased, eg they insist everyone must wear a collared shirt at there country club. Some restaruents advertise a no child policy, so no one under 13 is allowed to eat there, due to noise and behavioural issues.
Resorts some are nudist resorts. So people all the time in business have niche markets or market to specific type of clientele.
And also Airbnb is quite unique. Itâs a business operating with total random strangers staying at another personâs home, so the picky factor, or pickiness factor rises amongst both host and guest. So you can get away with being picky. Also market demand, if you in demand you can reject certain fish lol, so to speak. Airbnb has that block button/decline button as they know hosts want that.
Question: Do the gay residents have hang ups about straight residents, or is everyone cool and tolerant of each other, or the majority anyway?
What about C for âcurious?â
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