Community Committment

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Received this email just now:
Hi,
Earlier this year, we launched a comprehensive effort to fight bias and discrimination in the Airbnb community. As a result of this effort, we’re asking everyone to agree to a Community Commitment beginning November 1, 2016. Agreeing to this commitment will affect your use of Airbnb, so we wanted to give you a heads up about it.
What is the Community Commitment?
You commit to treat everyone—regardless of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or age—with respect, and without judgment or bias.
How do I accept the commitment?
On or after November 1, we’ll show you the commitment when you log in to or open the Airbnb website, mobile or tablet app and we’ll automatically ask you to accept.
What if I decline the commitment?
If you decline the commitment, you won’t be able to host or book using Airbnb, and you have the option to cancel your account. Once your account is canceled, future booked trips will be canceled. You will still be able to browse Airbnb but you won’t be able to book any reservations or host any guests.
What if I have feedback about the commitment?
We welcome your feedback about the Community Commitment and all of our nondiscrimination efforts. Feel free to read more about the commitment. You can also reach out to us at allbelong@airbnb.com.
The Airbnb Team
Sent with :heart: from Airbnb

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I can certainly treat everyone without judgment or bias in attitude. However there are practicalities. Someone in a wheelchair won’t be able to get up the stairs. My home is not and won’t be child proof. I sleep in the dining room with no door and no fourth wall, so if I get a creepy vibe I have to decline. My actual experience with people under 25 is that they stay up very late. I have another guest who works days. I can’t have people keeping him up late. Or me, either.

What Air doesn’t seem to be taking into account is that THIS IS MY HOME.

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I am the same. I wonder if when they say ‘age’ they are referring to children or if they mean hosts who are prejudiced against older guests? Our condo is definitely not safe for young children.

Regarding wheelchairs. hopefully when people see that our listing is upstairs, they won’t book? Otherwise, I applaud this move by Airbnb.

This being said, ours is a separate apartment so…

…doesn’t apply to me.

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they want me to take in 14 guests who are 18 years old? Spring break problems anyone? Do they understand what they are saying?

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I think that the important aspect of the email is ‘with respect, and without judgement or bias’.

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You can see why they have to do this. I doubt they are going to force us to take kids.

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Everyone seems to all freaked out over this discrimination thing. It does NOT say you can’t reject a “creepy vibe”. It means you can’t reject on the standard bases of “race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or age”

This has been pretty standard in this country for what? forty years? You can’t reject someone based soley on race, or religion, or national origin. You can’t reject them based soley on ethnicity, disability. sex etc.

If you are rejecting people based solely on any one of those criteria, then what the heck are you doing in the hospitality business? If you are rejecting people soley on any of those criteria, I sure as hell don’t want to know you.

I can think of lots of reasons to reject Spring Break Party Animals. For starters I refuse to rent to anyone under 21. I could also invoke a large Security Deposit.

Our place is not ADA compliant, but we have had a “wheelie” guest who really enjoyed staying here. You could certainly reject a wheelie without prejudice if they insist on trying to book, knowing your listing is on the second floor.

I can reject children for safety reasons – the listing is inside our pool cage and the only way I would accept an adult with a child is if I was sent a copy of the kid’s certificate of swimming training.

The point is, if you really feel you must reject someone for a “vibe”, or the way they came across in the inquiry, you’d better be sure that the reason does not include any of the items listed. It ain’t rocket surgery folks. You do have to accommodate the differences in people. This is the 21st century. Grow up!

If AirBnb requires us all to use Instant Book, THAT is a game breaker. It is my house. Mi casa, mi reglas!

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I think no matter what, that you have the right to reject reservations, and I’m sure that Air expects people to reject reservations sometimes.

The bottom line is that no one can prove that a host rejected someone based on any objectionable reason unless the host is glaringly obvious about it, saying something or doing something.

Personally, I welcome everyone that I can accommodate. That doesn’t include kids - no fence around the pool. And my home isn’t ADA compliant.

Not every home is a fit for every guest, but discriminating based on race etc is wrong. So I don’t do it and I don’t condone it. There are certain realities and Air must surely know this.

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It’s a PR move. They had to do it in response to the bad publicity.

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I was thinking the same thing :slight_smile:

There has been so much publicity about this so they had to do something pretty extreme to counteract the problem. I think that the fact is that they are mostly concerned about race and prejudices against (for example) Muslims. I suspect that the rest of it has just been bunged in there so that they are covered,

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