Big storm at Affordable Suites. And it's been confirmed by a local reporter posing as a gay couple. They turned away an inter-racial gay couple, and told them it's because they're gay.



From the local CBS affiliate:

A gay couple looking to rent a hotel room say they were turned away because of their sexuality.



"She wasn't discreet about it," said Jason Pickel, referring to a hotel employee. "She was not apologetic. She just said, 'We do not rent to gay people.'"....



News19 contacted the hotel, posing as a potential renter, and inquired about two men staying in the same room. The receptionist who answered the phone told us the following: “Our policy is we don’t rent to two people of the same sex if we only have one bed.” “Is that your policy,” we asked. “That’s corporate policy because they only have one sleeping area.” We then asked, “Okay, but they can't share the bed?” "I suppose they could, but most men don’t want to," she said.

The owner now says that there is no such policy to discriminate, but his employee was quite emphatic that there is. This is why we need civil rights laws. It is legal at the federal level, and in most states, to turn away gay couples from hotels simply because they are gay. That's wrong. That's why we have civil rights laws.