Closing a door on the patriarchy of the past, the Georgetown Club Inc on Wednesday voted to allow its female membership to become full voting members by the end of the year.
The historic decision was made at a special general meeting, where the all male voting members passed a special resolution to adopt new by-laws, including giving current lady members of the club the option to have full membership without having to go to ballot, by becoming ordinary members by year-end.
Established in 1896, the Club restricted membership to men, in keeping with the norms of the time. In 1975, lady membership was introduced, although it was considered second –class membership in all respects, since the women did not have the right to attend or vote at general meetings or to serve as directors. Later, in 1987, lady members were given the right to apply for ordinary membership, but since that time every woman who applied was rejected at ballot.
In a statement, the Club said its current board of directors proposed the new by-laws out of the recognition that a minority of members have used the “blackball” to discriminate against female candidates.
It requires three positive votes to cancel a vote against. The board felt that this attitude ran counter to the precept of gender equality. Among the female members who were rejected over the years are former Chancellor Desiree Bernard, businesswomen Denise Dias, Beverley Harper and Pauline Stephenson and attorney Josephine Whitehead.
Harper told Stabroek News yesterday that the decision augers well for the future. “We now have a younger board of directors who have recognised that we are not such lowly creatures,” she said, noting that the issue had taken a backseat after several luminaries had been repeatedly rejected. While she noted that six or seven members abstained at Wednesday’s vote, Harper was optimistic about the Club moving beyond the sexist practices of the past. She also said she would be happy to buy drinks for any of those members.
The Club said the register of lady members has now been closed and any woman wishing to join as an ordinary member would still have to go to ballot. Like all applicants, they would still have to go to ballot and would run the risk of being blackballed. But it is expected that future applicants would be accepted or rejected solely on the basis of their non-gender related suitability.
Meanwhile, a new category of membership has been introduced, allowing the husbands and wives of ordinary members to apply for family membership.
Family membership would have to be approved by the board of directors and does not include the right to vote or serve as directors. Also, squash associate and junior squash associate members are now associate and junior associate members. Other categories of membership remain unchanged.
