Courtesy: The Des Moines Register Jaspreet Singh, son of Jagtar and Daljeet Singh moved to the US from India when he was eight. Now an l6yearold, Jaspreet Singh, turban wearing Sikh, he has been denied entrance to a teen dance club because of a ban on hats. Singh’s religion requires him to wear a turban. He doesn’t go any Where without it. He and his father have explained that to the staff at Papa Smithson’s, 214 Third St. And staffers at Papa Smithson’s have explained the club dress code. No hats. Period.
“I understand the man’s religion, and he’s got a right of choice of his religion,” club owner Larry
Smithson said recently. “I’ve got a right of choice of my dress code “Singh, a Valley School junior, said that since late August, he has tried three times to enter the club. Three times he has been turned a Way. He felt humiliated, he said. Smithson said, “I do not plan on changing my rule.” Legal’ questions: His rule may. Violate Iowa law, however. “the state’s civil rights statute ‘Says that places that serve the public even those that are privately: owned cannot discriminate against patrons on the basis of race, religion or national origin, said Randall Wilson, legal director of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union. “And it appears that he may be in violation of one or all of those.
‘Smithson opened the club in 1992 and operated it as a bar until July, when he stopped serving alcohol and began catering to people ages 15 to 20. He may inn the only place in town where you get carded if you look too old.
Dress Code: Smithson said he adopted the previous owner’s dress code: No athletic wear, no Starter jackets (which are similar to school letter jackets), and no sleeveless shirts. He makes an exception for sleeveless dresses, he said, because that rule is to keep sloppily dressed people out. Shirts must be tucked. in. ‘The code’s purpose is to make Papa Smithson’s a “‘class operation,” Smithson said, and to prevent problems among gang members, who display their affiliations with certain clothes or colors. ‘The hat rule started as a ban on baseball caps and was expanded to “headwear of any type” be ‘cause patrons showed up “with any type of funky little hat that you would imagine on your head,” he said If a Jewish boy showed up wearing a yarmulke, the skullcap worn by many Jewish men, he would not be admitted, Smithson said, “I don’t allow headgear, period.”
Recently, this newspaper dubbed the club “the hottest hangout for the under21 crowd.”
Asked if it isn’t the hottest hangout for kids as a long as they aren’t practicing Jews or Sikhs, he said; “I think trying to phrase it that way is way out of line. If you phrase it that way, I will come down your throat so hard it will make your head swim,”
‘Smithson said he doesn’t plan to change the Nile. “I’m not discriminating against the man,” he said, “Discrimination has to be where you treat one person differently than other people.”’ The dress code, Smithson said, applies to everybody.
Singh’s father, Jagtar Singh said he may file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission if the rule is not changed.
The Human Rights Commission is scheduled to meet in the City Council chambers.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 18, 1994
