Reply #59: It is NOT "private" in the legal sense if they are advertising it available to rent to the public.

[TygrBright]

Once they started advertising it as available for rent to non-members, they are effectively offering a 'public' accommodation, and as such, they cannot discriminate.

This folly has opened them up to a world of hurt financially and with regards to public relations and perception.

I can't feel too sorry for them about that, though. Even if their initial intentions were not, strictly speaking, racist, they clearly failed to do their homework and follow through all the implications of their initial decision to make money by renting out the pool. You would think a 'private club' of this nature would have an attorney or two on the board who might point out the possible problems that could arise from offering the club's facilities as a public accommodation.

Either racist or dumb as a stump or both. In none of those cases do I find it easy to make apologies for them or feel sympathy for them.

dismissively,
Bright