I helped force the Garrick Club to admit women members – here’s where must be next
Victory is sweet, writes barrister Charlotte Proudman – but the Garrick now needs to put its money where its mouth is (and so do other clubs). How many women will be ‘invited’ to become members? And where’s my invitation...?
It took 193 years for the all-male Garrick Club to open its doors to equality and allow women to become equal members.
The vote was finally passed with 59.98 per cent of votes in favour, at the end of a private meeting where several hundred members spent two hours debating whether to permit women to join.
The decision was, in large part, due to a technical reading of a rule: the 1925 Law of Property Act advises that in legal documents, “he” should also be read to mean “she”. Of course, no women were in the room and 375 male members wanted women to remain locked out of power. But while I welcome women becoming members, the Garrick will now be judged by action. How many women will be “invited” to become members? I would love to be invited...
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