Letter: Golf club sexism

Sir: S. C. Jones suggests that women golfers may secure voting rights in golf clubs by drawing attention to the 1964 Licensing Act (Letters, 6 October). He claims that this requires clubs which sell alcohol to members to allow these members to have voting rights.

I too have investigated the 1964 Licensing Act as a possible lever for change and a way of removing some discriminatory practices. Unfortunately, it appears to contain an exclusion clause. My version says that 'all members entitled to use club premises must be entitled to vote and must have equal voting rights - with the exception of women if the club is primarily a men's club and men if the club is primarily a women's club'.

Because most golf clubs compel women to pay lower subscriptions than men, they can then claim that women are not full members and that the club is therefore a male club. Can Mr Jones, or any other Independent reader who is against discrimination in sport, suggest how women can get round this clause in the Act?

Yours faithfully,

ENID MUMFORD

Warrington, Cheshire