A library event in Montgomery County, Maryland, is giving refunds after The Washington Times reported that it charged vendors different rates based on their race and gender, according to organizers.
The event organizers, Friends of the Library-Montgomery County, also ended the race- and gender-based rates.
The MoComCon event at the Germantown Library and BlackRock Center for the Arts, which is the county’s take on the popular Comic-Con gatherings, was charging the highest vendor rates for businesses owned by White men with lower rates reserved for women and minorities.
Friends of the Library originally charged vendors who were people of color or women $225 without electricity access and $250 with electric service. Everyone else paid $275 without electricity access and $325 with electric service.
The disparate pricing was posted online with the vendor application for MoComCon.
An updated version of the vendor application now shows the new pricing as $125 without electricity and $175 with electricity access for all vendors.
In a statement to The Times, the organization’s executive director, Ari Z. Brooks, said they “refunded anyone who registered before the adjustment.”
“Our goal is to encourage as many vendors as possible to take part in this community event so we decreased the price overall,” she said.
She originally defended the pricing, saying it was intended to “promote inclusivity in library programming and expand opportunities for groups who have been underrepresented in this industry.”
After County Executive Marc Elrich, a Democrat, called the different prices “illegal,” the group changed the policy.
“If they’re doing it, I can’t see how that’s not illegal,” Mr. Elrich said in a news conference following the report in The Times. “We’re pretty clear that we don’t have different rates for different races.”
Scott Peterson, a spokesman for the county government, said the Friends of the Library had “corrected the situation as soon as they were made aware by the Montgomery County Public Libraries.”
“The disparate pricing on vendors that has occurred between the Friends of the Library Montgomery County, Inc. and BlackRock Center for the Arts is not permitted,” Mr. Peterson said in a statement. “The County did not approve nor condone this decision.”
The discriminatory pricing policy drew attention statewide.
Seven members of the House of Delegates sent a letter on Jan. 15 to the Maryland Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention. They said the pricing policy is “offensive, deeply flawed, and clearly violates America’s founding principles and the great state of Maryland.”
The delegates, who were all Republicans, called on the commission to “condemn” the policy and request that the Montgomery County Library System “formally apologize for the harm it has caused.”
MoComCon was originally scheduled for Jan. 20 but was postponed due to a snowstorm until March 2.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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