Maryland officials probe under public accommodation statute
By Lou Chibbaro Jr. | May 22, 4:49 PM Washington Blade Online
The Maryland Human Relations Commission is investigating a restaurant near the Chesapeake Bay that displayed a sign earlier this month that appeared to prohibit gays and blacks from entering its premises.
The Happy Harbor Inn, a popular dockside restaurant in the southern Maryland town of Deale, displayed the sign next to its main entrance as saying, "ATTENTION BIKERS: NO COLOREDS, FAGS, CLUB ATTIRE, (no) EXCEPTIONS," according to two people who visited the restaurant on May 3.
On May 20, nearly three weeks later, the sign had been changed. A visit to the restaurant by a Washington Blade reporter showed that the letters "eds" and "f" had been covered by white paint, with a faint outline of the letters still visible.
>From a distance, the sign on May 20 read, "ATTENTION BIKERS: NO COLOR, AGS,
CLUB ATTIRE (no) EXCEPTIONS."
"It could be a violation of Article 49 of the state's human relations code," said J. Neil Bell, deputy director of Maryland's Human Relations Commission.
Bell said his office would make inquires to find out how long the sign had been displayed before the changes were made.
Under Maryland law, discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations - such as restaurants and hotels - is prohibited based on race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and marital status, among other categories.
Records with the Anne Arundel County Board of Liquor Commissioners list Barbara A. Sturgell and Karen Kay Sturgell as the owners of the Happy Harbor Inn.
An employee at the restaurant, who did not identify herself, said Barbara Sturgell would not return to the restaurant until May 24, and that no one else was available to comment on the sign.
"I know nothing about that," said the employee, who was contacted by telephone. "You'll have to ask Barbara about that."
Scott Edwards, a former D.C. resident who was visiting the city earlier this month, said he and two friends drove to Deale for lunch and were stunned when they noticed the sign as they walked along a deck next to a harbor, where the restaurant is located.
"It was very clear," he said of the sign. "It said no coloreds, no fags, and no bikers. It just seemed weird," Edwards said. "It was anachronistic."
A friend of Edwards, who asked not to be identified because he is not openly gay in his profession, said he, too, saw the sign.
"I was astonished to see something like that in this day and age," he said.
An avid boater who has visited small towns along the Chesapeake Bay for more than 20 years, the friend said he has never seen such a sign anywhere in southern Maryland or the Eastern Shore.
BayDreaming.com, an online guide to the Chesapeake Bay region, describes Deale as a small fishing town that is home to more than 40 charter fishing boats.
"Deale is a popular destination for boaters located on Rockhold Creek in southern Anne Arundel County, on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay," the guide says. "Most of Deale's charter fishing fleet is docked at the Happy Harbor docks," it says. "Happy Harbor Inn includes a bar and restaurant with outside deck and is a popular destination."
Larry Stansbury, treasurer of the Spartan gay motorcycle club, said club members frequently ride along the Chesapeake Bay's back roads. He said he has never encountered anything like the sign in Deale.
Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland, a state gay rights group, said he group would ask state officials to take against the restaurant if it doesn't remove the sign.
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