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Hey guys, earlier this afternoon i was eating some lunch with my buds, when one of them brings up a commercial he saw on TV(comedy central or logo or some such channel). It was Orbitz, the travel and vacation agency and they were offering a very specific discount. For those of the LGBT community. The friend who initiated the conversation(lets call him Joe) says that its discrimination on the part of orbitz, and that why shouldn't straight people receive a discount for being straight. My other friend chimes in(lets call him Frank), and says no it wouldn't because they're 'special'(his words, not mine...).

What does Dakka think of this? Personally i think it just Orbitz jumping on a bandwagon and that no one should receive a discount for their sexuality, and then i sat happily and ate my taco while my friends began yelling at each other.....

They're doing what every other company that discriminates tries to do: appeal to a certain segment of the population by singling them out with preferential treatment. Orbitz has obviously decided that the LBGT community is a group that they wish to cater towards and appeal to, and so they're offering them a discount to get more business from them.

Ideally, they're a private company and should be able to discriminate however they want. Legally, they might be on a little shakier footing. Many states ban discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

As part of the LGBT community, I'm indifferent, since I don't use orbitz.

I wasn't angered by the fact, i just think its odd though, especially here in NY since gay couples are now allowed to be married, and a lot of places have started implementing such discounts.

Ehh, is that not like reverse discrimination or something?

also, how are you meant to prove you're gey etc., AFAIK they don't have 'registered gay community member' cretificates. Although this could work out well for Bros/chicks going on holiday together as they can't exactly prove you're not gay...

They're probably pushing for honeymoons, since a lot of married couples travel for honeymoons.

FM Ninja 048 wrote:Ehh, is that not like reverse discrimination or something?

There is no such thing as reverse discrimination.

You either treat one or more groups differently from one or more other groups, or you don't.

It's called advertising not discrimination.

If Joe Average desperately wants to go on the Gay Cruise ship I'm sure that the LGBT folks really won't mind.

It might be discriminatory if Joe was asked to prove it before his purchase however.

On the topic at hand, I agree with notprop.

If they want a special discount for someone to get them to start using their services, I don't really care.

After seeing this topic I went to Orbitz site. Seems the discounts are more along the lines of reduced travel to LGBT travel destinations and events, and not for LGBT people in general.

Also not discrimination.

Good research, Melchiour.

Melchiour wrote:After seeing this topic I went to Orbitz site. Seems the discounts are more along the lines of reduced travel to LGBT travel destinations and events, and not for LGBT people in general.

As I suspected. No discrimination. Anyone can get a discount, it's just that they only run LGBT events so if you have an issue with going on a gay cruise (oo-err!!) then you aren't going to benefit.

Oh Orbitz. You must be losing so much business. What with your servers being so utterly insecure and several banks suing you cause hackers keep stealing credit card numbers.

If anything the offer hoses LGBT folks when they find out they've got $50 charged to random websites and 'coffee' shops

Melchiour wrote:After seeing this topic I went to Orbitz site. Seems the discounts are more along the lines of reduced travel to LGBT travel destinations and events, and not for LGBT people in general.

That makes more sense.

Commisar Von Humps wrote:What does Dakka think of this? Personally i think it just Orbitz jumping on a bandwagon and that no one should receive a discount for their sexuality, and then i sat happily and ate my taco while my friends began yelling at each other.....

It's common for companies to target specific demographics, particularly those demographics with a lot of spending power. It's why you get all those ads on telly with the smart but long suffering mum, the cool kids, and the dopey by loveable dad. Because ad companies don't mind if they annoy or alienate the dad, because he doesn't impact buying decisions like the mum and the kids do.

Targeting gay buying power makes sense and is good strategy, and companies have been doing it for a long time. Thanks to Melchiour's research, we can see they're no actually giving discounts to gay people, they're giving discounts to places that gay people would like to go - which increases awareness to a demographic that is noted for having lots of disposable income - gay people.


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kronk wrote:There is no such thing as reverse discrimination.

You either treat one or more groups differently from one or more other groups, or you don't.

That's only true if we accept only one definition of the word racism.

There's another use for the term though, in the context of how systems affect individuals. In this context, we can see that non-white people clearly get the poorer end of the system than white people - just looking at average incomes makes this clear. In that context, reverse racism would be any system designed to go against the general trend of the system, and favour non-white groups over white groups.

kronk wrote:

FM Ninja 048 wrote:Ehh, is that not like reverse discrimination or something?

There is no such thing as reverse discrimination.

You either treat one or more groups differently from one or more other groups, or you don't.

never noticed this at first

but there is

Freaking love taco's

Softshell all the way man, those others cut my mouth.

sebster wrote:

kronk wrote:There is no such thing as reverse discrimination.

You either treat one or more groups differently from one or more other groups, or you don't.

That's only true if we accept only one definition of the word racism.

There's another use for the term though, in the context of how systems affect individuals. In this context, we can see that non-white people clearly get the poorer end of the system than white people - just looking at average incomes makes this clear. In that context, reverse racism would be any system designed to go against the general trend of the system, and favour non-white groups over white groups.

We're not talking racism though, we're talking discrimination. There's a difference. Discrimination is treating any group of people differently than you'd treat anyone else. Racism (or sexism, or whatever -ism you choose) is a belief in a superiority of one group over another or others. It's entirely possible for something or someone to be racist but not discriminatory, or (however unlikely) vice versa.

That said, sebster's right in the assertion, as "reverse racism" is just as discriminatory as anything else. A group is still being singled out.

Ma55ter_fett wrote:Freaking love taco's

Softshell all the way man, those others cut my mouth.

? Maybe you are looking for the favourite foods thread there dude, derailed my chain of thought there in spectacular style!

There is Positive Discrimination, which is why the UK police have an organisation for black police (their term, not mine).

Discrimination means to single-out, as mentioned.
Positive discrimination is singling-out, in a good way.
Negative discrimination is the norm though, which is why it isn't specified.
It's like talking about luck, or quality. Most poeople assume you mean good luck and good quality, but there are other types (quality hotel )

As long as the company in the OP is going to offer the discount to anyone who asks for it, it sounds like there's nothing wrong with what they're doing.

Skinnereal wrote:As long as the company in the OP is going to offer the discount to anyone who asks for it, it sounds like there's nothing wrong with what they're doing.

Actually, even if they didn't offer it to everyone, it's still legal in the US. Companies can choose who they serve(they reserve the right to refuse service) and who they choose to give discounts to. It's only illegal if they're breaking their state or federal anti-discrimination laws(ie. refusing to serve any blacks).

Skinnereal wrote:There is Positive Discrimination, which is why the UK police have an organisation for black police (their term, not mine).

You appear to be making the argument that discrimination, when done for a good purpose, is a good thing, while discrimination, when done for a bad purpose, is a bad thing.

I (and many others) would disagree, because it's the effects of the discrimination that matter, not the reasoning behind it.

If a community pool were to ban children of race X because the owners didn't like X race, the discrimination would be wrong and should be condemned. But if a community pool wanted to ban children race X because kids of race Y don't have pools at home, the discrimination is turned into a good thing?

The effect of the ban is to purposefully disadvantage people of a certain race/religion/sexual orientation in order to create an advantage for others. I think this is wrong.

No different to Student discount or over 65 discount. Just targeting a certain section of society and trying to get them onboard.

The effect of the ban is to purposefully disadvantage people of a certain race/religion/sexual orientation in order to create an advantage for others. I think this is wrong.

Excellently said, captain.

What's the problem?

Everyone should just book a trip through orbitz, say they're gay, and get the discount! What are they going to do, make you suck a to see whether or not you're lying? Everyone wins!

Seriously though, it's just a sales gimmick. Nothing to get worked up about. I realize that there is hypocrisy (if a company was only offering discounts for straight people they would get crucified) but that's just the world that we live in.

biccat wrote:

Skinnereal wrote:There is Positive Discrimination, which is why the UK police have an organisation for black police (their term, not mine).

You appear to be making the argument that discrimination, when done for a good purpose, is a good thing, while discrimination, when done for a bad purpose, is a bad thing.

I (and many others) would disagree

I'm not for discrimination at all. Treat everyone the same, as long as certain things, like disabilities are catered for.
If someone sees what they think is a hole in the market, they can offer what they like. As long as it's also open to everyone. Free market, and all that.

Melchiour wrote:After seeing this topic I went to Orbitz site. Seems the discounts are more along the lines of reduced travel to LGBT travel destinations and events, and not for LGBT people in general.

Can we all please calm down and re-read this. The OP is entirely mistaken in what he posted. Orbitz is NOT offering discounts specifically to the LGBT community.

Let's all give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he made an honest mistake and wasn't trolling.

What is an LGBT travel destination, I wonder?

Monster Rain wrote:What is an LGBT travel destination, I wonder?

Probaably something like when they have the big pride parades in San Fransisco...

FM Ninja 048 wrote:

Monster Rain wrote:What is an LGBT travel destination, I wonder?

Probaably something like when they have the big pride parades in San Fransisco...

Or states where LGBT couples can legally get married, or places where the T in LGBT can get operations (if they so desire, not all do), or cruises organized specifically to target such a demographic (similar to gay bars), or protest rallies, or communities where LGBT people tend to gather (groups of a specific demographic sometimes gather in one place, which is why we have things such as Chinatown districts/sections/etc in many cities-- rarely official names, but still frequently well known as such).