Protesters deliver letter to Garrick Club condemning exclusion of women

Protest outside the men-only Garrick Club in London. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Protesters demanding women be admitted to the men-only Garrick Club have delivered an open letter to its members saying discrimination on the grounds of sex is “nothing short of scandalous”.

The move came after the Bar Council said exclusive members’ clubs created “the potential for unfair advantage”, with the Garrick’s membership list showing it to be favoured by many senior members of the legal profession.

The protesters’ letter said: “For too long, the Garrick Club has stood as a symbol of exclusivity, a bastion of power maintained by the privileged few – predominantly white men who hold sway over the decisions affecting our society, our political system, our justice system, our media, and arts and culture.

“Women have been systematically excluded from your corridors of influence and power, though, we note, are permitted in their capacities as cleaners, waiters or guests of men.”

The letter was signed by dozens of lawyers, as well as the Labour MP Apsana Begum. Several of the signatories took a printed copy to the doors of the club in London’s West End on Thursday. The group, almost entirely comprised of women, was denied entry by the club’s officials, who locked the heavy metal gates that barred the closed front door.

When an organiser called the club asking to be let in to deliver the letter, she said a man a the other end of the line told her “no, thanks” and hung up. “The Garrick Club wouldn’t let us in – or let us deliver the letter. So a man delivered it on behalf of women,” said Dr Charlotte Proudman, who has been campaigning on the issue.

The club, whose men-only policy has been the cause of controversy for decades, has come under renewed scrutiny in recent days after the Guardian revealed details of the usually closely guarded membership list.

It demonstrated the club’s central position as a bulwark of the British establishment, featuring scores of leading lawyers, heads of publicly funded arts institutions and King Charles. Soon afterwards, the head of MI6, Richard Moore, and the head of the civil service, Simon Case, both left the club.

Much of the focus has been on members of the judiciary – and the wider legal profession – because of the club’s apparent popularity among their number, and because of the importance of maintaining public trust in their institutions. This week, the Judicial Office said at least four judges had resigned from the club.

On Thursday, the Bar Council, which represents 18,000 barristers in England and Wales, reminded members this was a “vitally important” issue, and asked them to consider whether membership was “compatible with the views they espouse in their professional lives”.

The same day, the protesters set out how membership of the club helped entrench established inequalities. “While it may be correct to say that members do not bring paperwork to or hold business meetings at your club, it is untenable to deny that your members network and establish relationships that extend into their professional lives while socialising and dining in halls and at tables from which women are excluded.

“Recruitment from within these networks only perpetuates the discrimination that is fostered in your club. A connection made over dinner or drinks leads to ‘unconscious’ (and this term is generously used) exclusion of women. Regardless of intent, the outcome is the same. The Garrick Club embodies the old boys’ club and maintains sexist inequalities and the male establishment.”

There have been moves to force the admission of women over the years. In 2015, a majority supported such a motion but it fell short of the two-thirds majority required to pass. And the protesters took aim at those who justified their membership on the grounds of wanting to modernise the club from within.

“Many members of the club publicly support diversity and inclusion, some even positioning themselves as feminists – like Benedict Cumberbatch – yet they remain members of male-only spaces of exclusivity, and power. It strikes us as profoundly hypocritical for any member to purport to be an inclusive advocate when this club’s very existence is predicated on the exclusion of women.”

Neither the Garrick Club, nor representatives of Benedict Cumberbatch have responded to requests for comment.