Springfield boat club to allow female members

Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD — A month after the city council voted to make it a civil rights violation, members of the Springfield Motor Boat Club have voted to allow female members.

The Springfield Journal-Register reports club members decided last week to reverse a prohibition against female members that it has had in place since it formed in 1933. Club representative Gene Hayes says the situation “should have been corrected years ago.” He says the club has received applications from women.

Springfield aldermen voted in September for a proposal that made it a civil rights violation for clubs that lease municipal land to restrict membership. The city wrote the club, saying a men-only policy may violate its lease.