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Airbnb Host Banned For Refusing Service To Transgender Woman, Didn’t Want Teen Son To Feel Uncomfortable In His Own Home

By Tara West
Published on: 09:45 PST, Jun 7, 2016

An Airbnb host was banned from the popular rental site after denying service to a transgender woman citing concerns for her 13-year-old son, according to the Daily Mail. Transgender woman Shadi Petosky said she attempted to rent a room in Minneapolis from the host but was denied after disclosing that she was trans. The host claimed that she was concerned for her 13-year-old son, who was going through puberty, and didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable in his own home. Petosky says that Airbnb initially did nothing about her discrimination complaint but says they have since banned the host after a tweet regarding the incident went viral.

Petosky says that the incident took place “a while ago,” but claims that at the time of her initial complaint in 2015 Airbnb did nothing. Therefore, when she saw that Airbnb was under fire for “other discriminatory stuff,” she thought she would post about her issue with the rental service. Following her viral tweet which included a screenshot of the response from the Airbnb host, Petosky says that the company should take measures to ensure that “a universal nondiscrimination policy” becomes part of the platform.

Some have questioned why Petosky would feel the need to disclose that she was trans to the host unless she was “looking for trouble.” Petosky says that she disclosed out of honesty and for her own protection. She claims that trans women are viewed as “monsters” who are trying to “trick” people and, therefore, deserving of “whatever” happens to them.

Airbnb responded to the tweet by noting that the host had been banned as there was “no place for discrimination” in the Airbnb community.

“Discrimination has no place in the Airbnb community. We have removed this host from Airbnb. We are conducting a comprehensive review and examining what can be done to ensure we resolve these kinds of issues quickly and help make sure everyone is treated fairly.”

This isn’t the first travel issue that Shadi Petosky says she has encountered as a transgender woman. Petosky also made waves when she revealed she missed her flight after TSA detected her genitalia as an “anomaly” when she went through the female line at the airport.

What do you think about the delayed Airbnb response to the alleged discrimination of a transgender woman? Do you agree with Petosky that the website should adopt a universal anti-discrimination policy across their entire platform to ensure that all hosts agree not to discriminate based on gender identity? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

[Image via Twitter/ Shadi Petosky]

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