Members of prestigious gentleman's club Cercle Gaulois grudgingly agreed to allow women to enter its ranks at its General Assembly this week.
Until now, the club did not explicitly forbid female members but certain rules gave the game away: the compulsory wearing of ties, for instance, and a formal ban on women accessing the bar or the reading rooms. Female ambassadors were exempted from these restrictions.
Founded in 1847, Cercle Gaulois is located on Rue de la Loi and is one of the most prestigious clubs in Europe, boasting an array of diplomats, entrepreneurs, judges, lawyers, politicians, economists and media personalities in its line-up of members.
Credit: Cercle Gaulois
At a tense General Assembly that lasted over two hours on Tuesday, 120 members voted to allow women to join the club while 60 voted against the motion. Many of the latter feared that the presence of women might "disrupt relations between men," according to La Libre.
To join the club, it is necessary to secure the backing of three members. In a bid to modernise the institution, former head of the king's cabinet Frans van Daele, constitutionalist Francis Delpérée and lawyer Emmanuel Cornu endorsed the following three women's membership bids: MP Céline Fremault (Les Engagés), Syensqo CEO Ilham Kadri and former judge at the European Court of Human Rights Françoise Tulkens.
The men supporting them have been dubbed "revolutionaries" for their efforts to modernise the club. All three women expect to have their membership validated on 25 June.
