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Life

07th Jun 2016

The reason this woman was rejected by an Airbnb host is outrageous 

Cassie Delaney

It seems every day we come across another story of transphobia.

Discrimination against transgender people has been rife in the media for months now given the controversy in the United States with stringent bathroom laws but as one woman pointed out on Twitter, the difficulties facing the trans community are never ending.

Shadi Petosky, a trans woman tweeted a screenshot of a conversation she had to endure when she attempted to rent a room on Airbnb.

 

After Petosky disclosed to the host that she was trans, the host rescinded the offer for Petosky to stay, citing the presence of her teenage son at the reason.

Petosky told  Buzzfeed News that she initially reported the email to Airbnb over a year ago but failed to gain a response.

However after Petosky tweeted the screenshot, the company were quick to investigate.

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screenshot via Twitter

“Discrimination has no place in the Airbnb community. We are removing this host from Airbnb” said spokesperson Nick Papas.

Petosky said she posted the screenshot because it seemed like to company were in the media lately.

She added that she “had no idea it was going to blow up as much as it did.”

“They should definitely have a universal nondiscrimination policy as part of their platform,” she told BuzzFeed News. “It could be stricter than local laws, and make it so the people who are running these businesses have to comply with these policies so that the customer feels like they have recourse.”