Planning a trip can be stressful. The scheduling, travel, events, even lodging, it can all be a bit overwhelming.
For Curtis Kimberlin Jr. and his partner, Jonathan, booking lodging proved to be the worst part.
Kimberlin planned to travel to Dallas, Texas for a wedding and planned to rely on Airbnb for lodging.
To his horror, after he introduced himself to a potential host, the response he was met with was a cold homophobia.
“So I’ll be hosting two men sleeping together…right?”.
\u201cLove trying to book an @Airbnb with my bf in Dallas and having this be the first response to our booking. \ud83d\ude43\u201d— Curtis Kimberlin Jr (@Curtis Kimberlin Jr) 1673124675
The comment was followed by the potential host denying their booking request.
Kimberlin was shocked, understandably so, as this was blatantly discriminatory.
Fortunately, once this issue was brought to their attention, Airbnb confirmed the listing and host were suspended from the platform while an investigation took place.
They also offered support to Kimberlin and his partner, Johnathan.
“We reached out to our impacted guests to offer our support.”
“Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has no place on Airbnb, and we take reports of violations of our non-discrimination policy incredibly seriously.”
Since 2016, Airbnb has worked to combat discrimination on their platform.
Twitter users offered suggestions and support for the couple.
\u201c@ckimberlinjr @Airbnb Next time: Maybe take a peek here. I, along with thousands of LBTQIA+ (and ally) hosts offer SAFE & welcoming accommodations all across the globe. Also\u2026 visit me in Vegas! \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffe\ud83c\udf89\u201d— Curtis Kimberlin Jr (@Curtis Kimberlin Jr) 1673124675
\u201c@ckimberlinjr @Airbnb How does a person sign up to be an Airbnb host and expect every single person staying w/ them to be 100% straight?\u201d— Curtis Kimberlin Jr (@Curtis Kimberlin Jr) 1673124675
\u201c@ckimberlinjr @Airbnb Kinda sounds like it's time to ban a host @AirbnbHelp\u201d— Curtis Kimberlin Jr (@Curtis Kimberlin Jr) 1673124675
\u201c@ckimberlinjr @Airbnb I once got a listing removed from Airbnb because they said they wouldn\u2019t allow same sex couples in the description.. insane that they could even post that in the first place but glad Airbnb did the right thing by removing it.\u201d— Curtis Kimberlin Jr (@Curtis Kimberlin Jr) 1673124675
\u201c@ckimberlinjr @Airbnb Why would they host when half the world is gay lol what do they think is happening in rentals\u201d— Curtis Kimberlin Jr (@Curtis Kimberlin Jr) 1673124675
\u201c@ckimberlinjr @Airbnb Being denied for this is discrimination. Hope this host is removed and banned. With so many stories like this coming out, I won\u2019t ever use @Airbnb again. It\u2019s obviously an unsafe platform\u201d— Curtis Kimberlin Jr (@Curtis Kimberlin Jr) 1673124675
\u201c@ckimberlinjr @Airbnb This man\u2019s stance alone tells me all i need to know\u201d— Curtis Kimberlin Jr (@Curtis Kimberlin Jr) 1673124675
\u201c@ckimberlinjr @Airbnb @Airbnb how does your company enforce anti-discrimination to protect customers against experiences like this - or from actually arriving to a potentially dangerous situation? Traveling as an LGBTQ person/couple isn\u2019t always safe & it\u2019s likely this is not an isolated issue\u201d— Curtis Kimberlin Jr (@Curtis Kimberlin Jr) 1673124675
Kimberlin and his partner even had other companies comment with their support and offers of places to stay.
\u201c@ckimberlinjr @Airbnb Curtis \u2013 if you and your partner still need help with a stay, we got you! Please meet us in the DMs! \ud83e\udef6\u201d— Curtis Kimberlin Jr (@Curtis Kimberlin Jr) 1673124675
\u201c@ckimberlinjr @Airbnb Hey Curtis! I'm sure you figured out alternative plans by now but if you ever need to come back to Dallas, I would gladly host you and your bf! Our place is in a super inclusive neighborhood as well. \u2764\ufe0f https://t.co/ag5eQ1fNf5\u201d— Curtis Kimberlin Jr (@Curtis Kimberlin Jr) 1673124675
It is sad how often this sort of thing is still happening, but it is good Airbnb did the right thing this time.
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