The Phoenix Country Club today settled on a lawsuit from Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard. The suit claimed sexual discrimination against the club for having separate facilities for men and women. Rather than continue to fight the suit, the private, members only country club caved and settled, thus allowing members of both sexes the right to share facilities.
I find this whole mess to be another big-brother government intervention where they had no business or jurisdiction. That said, why men would want to dine apart from women is just beyond me. But perhaps tradition got the best of the country club members until today. In any case, the fact that it was private club means that its membership, via by-laws, and not government, should dictate the rules of the club.
Goddard's case will undoubtedly have unintended consequences among private groups and clubs across the state, including gay and lesbian groups, who may now be legally obliged to have members of the opposite sex attend any private functions. Perhaps Goddard himself will ensure nondiscrimination at those events. Whatever the case, the political fallout of this idiocy will indeed be entertaining.





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