Jack, thanks for the excellent and educational answer!
You are right. Rooms donât discriminate, but hosts do. Iâve seen it too many times. Remember services like air have two sides to themâŚthe lodging experience and the connecting-with-people aspect. Itâs the latter that can really make or break a holiday in a much more profound way than the cleanliness of the sheets or the colors of the curtains. Trust me.
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@jackulas - I have no problem believing that you were a victim of discrimination because when I came to live in South Florida (from the UK) twenty-something years ago I was astounded by the anti-gay stuff that was going on.
Fort Lauderdale now though is known as being a gay-friendly vacation resort but even so, that discrimination can still be seen sometimes.
My problem with my own listing is that I want to put that we are gay-friendly because Fort Lauderdale is such a popular LGBT destination. But I need to do this a) without putting homophobes off the place and b) having people think that we are a âclothing optionalâ place (of which there are quite a few locally.)
Iâve been wondering about this for ages but havenât come up with a solution!
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I think jackulas addressed this well, but I just wanted to add: it can be easy to be shocked that discrimination still happens if we donât experience it ourselves, but that is part of the privilege of being in a man-woman relationship. We donât have to worry if a host will accept us of we book with our opposite-sex partner, so we might wonder: shouldnât every listing be gay-friendly? Why state it then? We might not know how important it is for LGBT folks to be reassured that we are going to welcome them. That is why Iâve been thinking about adding, âLGBT-friendlyâ to my listing. I live in a liberal city near the âgayborhood,â so I had assumed that all my guests would know Iâd welcome them, but Iâve still been considering adding âLGBT-friendlyâ to my listing to be explicit to those travelers who might not know that I live in a gay-friendly city where you can expect hosts to be inclusive. And, as jackulas noted, even in a liberal city you can find those who are eager to discriminate. There are still gay-bashings (drunks beating up those they perceive as gay) in my cityâs gay neighborhood, so we still have a long way to go, despite the notable progress that has been made over the last few years.
Now, I wonder: does AirBnB still let you type in your own keywords to searches? I havenât been able to figure out how to search for custom keywords beyond AirBnBâs amenity check-boxes.
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Thanks for the on-point comments. As far as I know there used to be key words we could add to help users tailor their searches for a place thatâs a good fit. I think they removed those for whatever reason. So, the way I deal with it is just be right up front in my description who my partner and I are and even have a statement about how we have hosted guests from all walks of life including all different nationalities, gay and straight, etc. so itâs clear I am a very open host.
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I canât help you with the first one, because I donât want to host biggest in my house any more than I would want a bigoted host. No amount of money is worth that. As for the second one, Iâm a little puzzled by the question, because gay friendly is not the same thing as clothing optional, but if your goal is to minimize confusion, then just say something in your description like âWe welcome all guests regardless of gender, national origin, or sexual orientation. Please know that while there are many clothing optional resorts to choose from in Fort Lauderdale, our property is not clothing optional.â
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@jackulas - that sounds perfect - thank you! I know what you mean, I donât particularly want homophobic people either but I know that there are people like that. Yes, I know that gay-friendly and clothing optional are very different but I wouldnât want any visitors to think that we are if they have been looking at clothing optional places locally. (Guests being guests and not necessarily reading listings properly!) Maybe it was daft of me to be thinking that way 
The rental is in a small complex with several gay owners / residents and luckily itâs a self-contained unit so any bigots can like it or lump it.
Iâm going to add your suggestion to the listing right now - thanks again!
I wouldnât want to host a homophobe either. If they have a problem with gay hosts, they wouldnât like me either, and would he uncomfortable with the friends I have over.
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Do you have to be LGTB to host on MisterBnB?
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I donât think itâs a rule that hosts have to be gay. Itâs a site that works like Air but caters mainly to gay men. So, if you are listed, users will probably expect you to be gay friendly and familiar with the gay neighborhoods in your town.
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I have never given a thought if guests are gay or not but can say that they will not be treated any better or worse than anyone else. The only time I ever had a gay couple want to stay at my listing the only reason I said ânoâ was because they wanted me to forgo the 300 deposit and I refused to do so.
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I used to have that I was LGBT friendly, then took it out, then put it back in, then took it out. I get angry that there is so much prejudice, that I would have to include it! I will probably put it back in next week. I did get an inquiry once from a woman asking if her orientation and color would be an issue. I felt horrible that she felt that she needed to mention it! In the end, she didnât book from me because I was much too far away from the event she needed to attend, but I was able, through email via airbnb, to direct her to a closer town. Why is it the real people who are going to bother me (the ones who donât read that there is sketchy cell service due to mountains then get here and complain about lack of cell service when I mention it 3 times in my listing?) do not bother to tell me âby the way, will it be a problem that Iâm an ignorant fool and didnât read your complete listing?â
Under the photo of the bed, I wrote âQueen bed, queens welcomeâ.
In this day and age no one should have to inquire if he or she is welcome and I feel it demeaning to the guest to single them out., but I do understand possible anxieties.
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Donât care or even want to talk about anyoneâs sexual preferences. The rules I have are the same regardless.
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I listed friendly on mine for a while, but I took it down because it just is not an issue for me, and while Iâm not trying to exclude anyone or make any guests feel not comfortable in possibly making a reservation, my feelings are that all people are welcome, unless there is something in their initial request that turns me off (such as 'is there a mall nearbyâIâm just not going to enjoy hosting women who come to this beautiful spot in nature in July to go shopping.). If people read my profile on ABB, Iâm sure they can figure out Iâm not a bigot.
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lol that is ridiculous.
It is ridiculous,I do not see a reason why people refuse gay people.My apartments are gay friendly,but there is not option for searching gay friendly apartments on Airbnb.I am sure I had a few guests who were gay, they never asked me before booking if it ok for them to stay,they just said they were coming with a partner and when they arrived it appeared to be a man.
There was a case here in UK a couple of years ago when gay couple sued B&B owner for turning them away http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23240113
It all comes back to the fact that if you donât want to rent to people different from yourself, donât fucking rent at all. And if youâre going to be exclusive, donât use a website like AirBnB.
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I wish things were that simple, but itâs not the world we live in. The point of a site like AirBnB is to match suitable hosts to suitable guests. There is a lot of nuance to that.
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The host owns the place, they set the rules, not everyone has to like them, accept them or is forced to stay there. I go where I am welcomed and I would like to be; when the two coincide is always a great match.
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