Airbnb vows to act on ‘no gays’ ad by Tassie operator

GAY rights advocate Rodney Croome has criticised accommodation website Airbnb after a Hobart room was advertised with “house rules” advising that gay couples were not welcome.

Rodney Croome

TASMANIAN of the year and gay rights advocate Rodney Croome has criticised accommodation website Airbnb after a Hobart room was advertised with “house rules” advising that gay couples were not welcome.

Airbnb, the online booking provider that has taken the world by storm, has promised to contact the Hobart couple who placed the ad, saying they appear to have breached Airbnb discrimination standards.

The couple’s room advertisement included the warning: “We prefer not to host GLB couples.”

Mr Croome, the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group spokesman, said “discrimination of this kind is morally wrong”.

“The state Anti-Discrimination Tribunal has defined discrimination in accommodation very broadly, and this definition clearly includes Airbnb,” he told the Sunday Tasmanian yesterday.

“This is also very bad for tourism because it sends the message that gay visitors aren’t welcome in Tasmania.

“Over the years Tourism Tasmania has worked hard to improve Tasmania’s reputation but it takes just one bad apple to jeopardise this good work.”

An Airbnb spokesman told the Sunday Tasmanian the company had a “zero tolerance” policy on discrimination.

Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Robin Banks said Airbnb operators should be subject to the same anti-discrimination standards as commercial operators.

The advertisement was just one of a raft of ads that have caught the ire of the local hospitality industry.

Others included a backyard canvas tent and a cabin without a bathroom.

Tasmanian Hospitality Association general manager Steve Old said standards fall away when operators don’t adhere to regulations.

He said guests were staying in rooms without basic safety devices or public liability insurance to protect tourists.

Originally published as Airbnb vows to act on ‘no gays’ ad by Tassie operator