A basic view of the unique men-only Garrick Membership on March 21, 2024 in London, England.
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LONDON — Members of Britain’s unique all-male Garrick Membership reportedly voted to allow ladies to hitch the establishment for the primary time in its 193-year historical past.
The vote on Tuesday was reportedly handed with almost 60% in favor following a two-hour confidential debate, which was held close to the membership’s headquarters in central London. The controversy was closed off to non-members.
The historic vote comes after the membership has confronted intense scrutiny in current weeks after the U.Okay.’s Guardian newspaper printed the names of among the elite membership’s most influential members.
The intently guarded membership listing confirmed the membership to be an emblem of Britain’s patriarchal institution, with the vast majority of members being white and over 50 years previous.
Listed as members alongside King Charles III have been the deputy prime minister, the top of the Secret Intelligence Service or MI6, dozens of members of the Home of Lords, and 10 members of parliament. Notable public figures from the humanities, together with actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Brian Cox, have been additionally named.
The Garrick Membership, named after the 18th-century actor David Garrick, was based in 1831 as a spot the place “actors and males of refinement and training would possibly meet on equal phrases,” in response to a press release on the membership’s web site. Right this moment, it has over 1,300 members.
Girls maintain banners throughout a protest for equality on the entrance to the Garrick Membership in London, UK, on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
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A spokesperson for the membership didn’t instantly reply to CNBC’s request for remark by way of electronic mail. A member of workers informed CNBC by way of phone that there isn’t any division to take care of queries on the vote.
Nonetheless, a supply informed the Guardian that 562 members had voted in favor and 375, roughly 40%, voted towards.
Britain’s famed non-public golf equipment have confronted rising criticism lately following a sequence of scandals which have unearthed sexism, vandalism and bullying inside the elite teams.
Former British prime ministers Boris Johnson and David Cameron have been shamed after revelations surfaced over a tradition of toxicity and bullying inside their Oxford College Bullingdon Membership. In the meantime, the organizer of a President’s Membership charity dinner was pressured to resign following stories of sexual harassment of hostesses on the occasion.
It was not instantly clear when ladies could be permitted to hitch the Garrick Membership or how they could grow to be eligible ought to they have an interest.
