Creating an inclusive community
In addition to creating a safe environment for riders and drivers, Lyft is committed to creating a community in which riders and drivers feel as though they are included and belong.
As part of creating that environment, it is important that we have frank, and sometimes difficult conversations- about prohibited actions like discrimination. Discrimination against passengers or drivers on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, age, or sexual orientation is not allowed, and can result in deactivation from the platform.
Why is This Important?
Just as you cannot discriminate based on race, nationality, disability, religion, age, or other protected characteristics, you also cannot discriminate based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Historically, and currently, people of diverse backgrounds have experienced widespread discrimination. A study from Center for American Progress reported that more than 25% of LGBTQ people experienced discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity in the past year. LGBTQ people of color, particularly those who are transgender or gender nonconforming, experience the highest rates of poverty, discrimination, and violence. Everyone deserves an equal chance to use Lyft’s services and should be treated with respect and dignity as a member of the Lyft community. Lyft believes that discrimination threatens to exclude the individuals of diverse experiences which make our community special.
What Does Discrimination Look Like?
Discrimination involves treating people unfavorably based on actual or perceived characteristics such as race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristics protected by law and listed in Lyft’s Terms of Service.
Forms of discrimination may include, but are not limited to:
Canceling a ride (or refusing to pick up a Rider) because the Driver believes that the Rider is LGBTQ or has a profile photo with a rainbow
Giving Riders or Drivers a lower score because of their race
Inappropriate comments or questions such as “You couldn’t pay me to get in a dress” or “OK boomer”
Misusing pronouns or intentionally misgendering a Rider or Driver
What are some LGBTQ Specific Terms I should know?
Asexual: describes the lack of a sexual attraction or desire for other people.
Bisexual: refers to someone who is emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to people of more than one gender.
Cisgender: refers to a person whose gender identity is the same as sex assigned at birth.
Drag: an art form popularized by LGBTQ+ people where people dress up and perform, often in exaggeratedly feminine or masculine ways. As part of their performance, many drag artists have a separate drag persona in addition to the self they live as every day. This persona will look different and may also have a different name and different gender pronouns.
Gay: refers to a person who is emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to people of the same gender. “Gay” is often reserved for men, and “lesbian” for women.
Gender Dysphoria: the medical diagnosis characterized by clinically significant distress that arises from the difference between a person’s gender identity and the person’s assigned sex at birth.
Gender expression: behavior, appearance, and other characteristics such as clothing, hair style, or voice that express a person’s gender identity.
Gender identity: a person’s hardwired, deeply held understanding of themselves as male, female, both, or neither.
Gender-nonconforming: refers to a person who does not meet society’s expectations of gender roles.
Gender transition or affirmation: the period when a transgender person begins to live more fully as their gender identity. This can include social, legal, and medical aspects. It can be a very short or a lifelong process.
A social transition can include coming out, choosing a new name, going by different pronouns and dressing in accordance with one’s gender identity.
A legal transition can include changing one’s name and gender marker on legal documents and getting a new or amended birth certificate, if possible.
A medical transition can include therapy or counseling, hormone therapy, and surgical procedures that change primary and secondary sexual characteristics
What are some LGBTQ Specific Terms I should know?
Intersex: an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of natural bodily variations. Intersex people are born with sex characteristics that do not fit typical notions of bodies designated “male” or “female.”
Lesbian: a woman who is emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to women.
LGBTQ: an acronym for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer.”
Non-binary: refers to a person whose gender identity is not exclusively male or female.
Pansexual: refers to a person who is not limited in emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction with regard to sex, gender, or gender identity.
Queer: a term that can describe a sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender/sexual expression that does not conform to society’s expectations.
“Queer” is a complicated term and was historically used as a slur. Some still find the word hurtful. Do not call people “queer” unless they tell you that’s what they want you to call them.
Sex assigned at birth: the sex designation given to a person at birth.
Sexual orientation: a person’s emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to other people. For example: heterosexual, straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, asexual, etc.
Sexual orientation is different from gender identity. A transgender person – like a person who is not transgender – can be straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or any other sexual orientation.
Transgender: refers to a person whose gender identity is different from sex assigned at birth.
Transgender woman: a woman who was assigned the sex of male at birth.
Transgender man: a man who was assigned the sex of female at birth.
See Anti-Discrimination Policy here.