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| The owner of the Happy Harbor Inn said a sign outside its Deale, Md., location, had been altered by vandals, but two guests disputed that claim. |
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: LOU CHIBBARO J COMMENTS
 
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spaces appeared to be freshly painted with white glossy paint.
Sturgell said she could not provide the identity of the company that made the sign, saying her son handled the arrangements for the sign and was unavailable for an interview.
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. 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, said the group would ask state officials to take action against the restaurant if it doesn’t remove or change the sign.
Restaurant could face fines
J. Neil Bell, deputy director of the Maryland Human Relations Commission, said the original version of the sign — if it could be proven to have existed — would have violated Article 49 of the state’s human relations code.
He said the commission has jurisdiction to take action against businesses that violate the human relations code even if a member of the public doesn’t complain.
“We can file the complaint,” he said.
Bell said his office would have to determine whether “credible evidence” exists that the original version of the sign included the words “coloreds” and “fags.”
He said the office also would seek to determine whether anyone was denied entry into the establishment on the basis of their race, sexual orientation or other factors.
All of this could be moot, however, because the remedy to discrimination stemming from the Happy Harbor Inn sign would be to take down or change the sign, Bell said.
The website for the Anne Arundel County Human Relations Commission includes a litany of prohibited categ
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