Re: Membership in nonprofit organization

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On 8/13/01, Bill wrote:
> I belong to a non-profit historical organization that has
> never had a female member, probably due to the nature of
> our group. Excuse me for being so vague. At a recent
> event, our "leader" made a statement, when asked if there
> were any female members, that we were a "living history
> organization and women were not allowed 140 years ago, and
> we are maintaining that living history." Some of us were
> quite disturbed by these comments and want clarification
> regarding ourm obligations under the equal rights laws. We
> are hesitant to go to the local city attorney because we
> don't want to jeopardize our funding.
>
> I have tried looking up equal rights & civil rights laws,
> but can't find anything that pertains. Could someone give
> me some direction on where to look. Thanks
>
> BH

If the organization is supported exclusively by private
donations and funding (i.e. it's basically a private club),
I'm sorry to say that excluding others based on race, gender,
etc. *may* be legal. But if the organization receives any
public funding, they will be in big trouble if somebody
decides to challenge them. You might want to contact a law
library if there's a university in your area to get a referal
to the proper area of legal research on this.

Somebody may want to explain to your "leader" that a LOT of
things were different 140 years ago than they are today. I
applaud your efforts to think about bringing your
organization up to date.

Re: Membership in nonprofit organization, 10/25/03, by John.

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