Terms

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Non-discrimination Policy

Our Commitment to Inclusion and Respect

FarCloser Travel is, at its core, an open community dedicated to bringing the world closer together by fostering meaningful, shared experiences among people from all parts of the world. Our community includes people from virtually every country on the globe. It is an incredibly diverse community, drawing together individuals of different cultures, values, and norms.

The FarCloser Travel community is committed to building a world where people from every background feel welcome and respected, no matter how far they have travelled from home. This commitment rests on two foundational principles that apply both to FarCloser Travel’s Operators and Guests: inclusion and respect. Our shared commitment to these principles enables every member of our community to feel welcome on the FarCloser Travel Platform no matter who they are, where they come from, how they worship, or whom they love. FarCloser Travel recognizes that some jurisdictions permit or require, distinctions among individuals based on factors such as national origin, gender, marital status or sexual orientation, and it does not require Operators to violate local laws or take actions that may subject them to legal liability. FarCloser Travel will provide additional guidance and adjust this Non-discrimination Policy to reflect such permissions and requirements in the jurisdictions where they exist.

While we do not believe that one company can mandate harmony among all people, we do believe that the FarCloser Travel community can promote empathy and understanding across all cultures. We are all committed to doing everything we can to help eliminate all forms of unlawful bias, discrimination, and intolerance from our platform. We want to promote a culture within the FarCloser Travel community—Operators, Guests and people just considering whether to use our platform—that goes above and beyond mere compliance. To that end, all of us, FarCloser Travel employees, Operators and Guests alike, agree to read and act in accordance with the following policy to strengthen our community and realize our mission of ensuring that everyone can belong, and feel welcome, anywhere.

• Inclusion – We welcome Guests of all backgrounds with authentic hospitality and open minds. Joining FarCloser Travel, as an Operator or Guest, means becoming part of a community of inclusion. Bias, prejudice, racism, and hatred have no place on our platform or in our community. While Operators are required to follow all applicable laws that prohibit discrimination based on such factors as race, religion, national origin, and others listed below, we commit to doing more than comply with the minimum requirements established by law.
• Respect – We are respectful of each other in our interactions and encounters. FarCloser Travel appreciates that local laws and cultural norms vary around the world and expects Operators and Guests to abide by local laws, and to engage with each other respectfully, even when views may not reflect their beliefs or upbringings. FarCloser Travel’s members bring to our community an incredible diversity of background experiences, beliefs, and customs. By connecting people from different backgrounds, FarCloser Travel fosters greater understanding and appreciation for the common characteristics shared by all human beings and undermines prejudice rooted in misconception, misinformation, or misunderstanding.

When Guests are turned down. Operators should keep in mind that no one likes to be turned down. While an Operator may have, and articulate, lawful and legitimate reasons for turning down a potential Guest, it may cause that member of our community to feel unwelcome or excluded. Operators should make every effort to be welcoming to Guests of all backgrounds. Operators who demonstrate a pattern of rejecting Guests from a protected class (even while articulating legitimate reasons) undermine the strength of our community by making potential Guests feel unwelcome, and FarCloser Travel may suspend Operators who have demonstrated such a pattern from the FarCloser Travel Platform.

Specific Guidance for Operators Outside Canada

Outside of Canada, some countries or communities may allow or even require people to make accommodation distinctions based on, for example, marital status, national origin, gender or sexual orientation, in violation of our general non-discrimination philosophy. In these cases, we do not require Operators to violate local laws, nor to accept Guests that could expose the Operators to a real and demonstrable risk of arrest, or physical harm to their persons or property. Operators who operate in such areas should set out any such restriction on their ability to host particular Guests on their listing, so that prospective Guests are aware of the issue and FarCloser Travel can confirm the necessity for such an action. In communicating any such restrictions, we expect Operators to use clear, factual, non-derogatory terms. Slurs and insults have no place on our platform or in our community.

What happens when an Operator does not comply with our policies in this area?

If a particular listing contains language contrary to this Non-discrimination Policy, the Operator will be asked to remove the language and affirm his or her understanding and intent to comply with this policy and its underlying principles. FarCloser Travel may also, in its discretion, take steps up to and including suspending the Operator from the FarCloser Travel Platform.

If the Operator improperly rejects Guests on the basis of protected class or uses language demonstrating that his or her actions were motivated by factors prohibited by this policy, FarCloser Travel will take steps to enforce this policy, up to and including suspending the Operator from the FarCloser Travel Platform.

As the FarCloser Travel community grows, we will continue to ensure that FarCloser Travel’s policies and practices align with our most important goal: to ensure that Guests and Operators feel welcome and respected in all of their interactions using the FarCloser Travel Platform. The public, our community, and we ourselves expect no less than this.