Homophobic guest left me distraught - Airbnb host

Philip Baldwin said the "entire experience was horrific"

An Airbnb host who is openly gay and living with HIV says he was left "distraught" when a guest filed a complaint against him in what he says was a case of homophobia.

Philip Baldwin, 38, says the man left pamphlets for blood tests "prominently" in his London home.

The human rights activist added his account had been temporarily suspended.

An Airbnb spokesperson said it had suspended the guest from the platform and begun an investigation.

Mr Baldwin, who is "open and proud" about his sexuality, said his Airbnb guest had checked in to the spare room of his London apartment on 22 May and was initially "very friendly" and "chatty".

But the guest's attitude "completely changed" after the pair discussed Mr Baldwin's work while the guest was on a laptop.

He believes his guest searched for his name online, which would have listed articles and his social media profiles saying he is "gay and living with HIV".

The man left pamphlets for blood tests "prominently" in Mr Baldwin's home

"I was getting the impression that he thought any form of contact with something that I touched could be dangerous," he said.

The guest did not touch the freshly cleaned towels he had provided, avoided face-to-face contact and began only speaking to him via text message, he said.

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Mr Baldwin said he had tried to "rationalise" the situation as he thought the guest was just extremely private or had become busy with work.

But when he checked his Airbnb account on 26 May, he noticed his account had been suspended and discovered an investigation had begun.

On 3 June, at the start of Pride Month, the guest checked out and Mr Baldwin found a leaflet about blood tests had been left "prominently" on the windowsill, which included a section on HIV tests.

The guest did not touch the freshly cleaned towels Mr Baldwin provided

Mr Baldwin said he burst into tears when he saw the leaflet and believed the guest's "odd behaviour" was motivated by homophobia.

He says the "entire experience was horrific", as it left him "paranoid, frightened, and confused".

He added: "I know that, ultimately, this has been resolved, but I'm just really concerned that this could happen to someone else who is gay, or who is living with HIV, because it simply isn't realistic that everyone else is going to be as aware of equalities legislation.

"Since my HIV diagnosis in 2010, I've actually never been impacted by discrimination so much."

An Airbnb spokesperson said: "Discrimination has no place on Airbnb, and we have reached out to the host to provide our full support.

"The guest has been suspended while our specialised anti-discrimination team thoroughly investigates this matter."

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