Championed by Canada's LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, the Rainbow Registered Accreditation program gets LGBT+ inclusive businesses certified and put on a map.
Jana Dellapinna, Laura Whiteland and Peter Hradisky shared their experiences in customer service. - Chelsey GouldTRURO, N.S. —"One bill?” is a question that Laura Whiteland and her wife never get at a restaurant – something that would probably happen more often to a heterosexual couple.
Consistency in customer service is key, along with an understanding of what it means to be LGBTQ-friendly, said Peter Hradisky, who previously worked at the visitor information centre in the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. Whiteland suggests that, instead of assuming, servers consistently ask all customers how they want the bill done. Another time when Whiteland was checking into a hotel room with her wife, the employee was adamant about ensuring they knew that there was only one bed. She does not believe that most heterosexual couples receive the same information.
While Hradisky was staying at a mountain hotel recently with a friend, one person was asking a lot of questions about the nature of their relationship. There was conversation among panellists on whether to ask for pronouns, since some places are upfront about stating or asking for them. It was agreed that it is important not to assume one’s pronouns, and to acknowledge mistakes when they happen.