Is Women-Only Club the Wing Discriminating in a Bad Way?

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Wing, the members-only association for women that calls itself “a coven not a sorority,” has presented its clubhouses as impeccably designed safe spaces for women to work, network, nosh, primp and talk politics.

Now, a year and a half after first opening in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, the company is also the subject of an investigation by the New York City Commission on Human Rights for possible discrimination violations, said Seth Hoy, a spokesman for the commission.

According to the commission’s website, its purpose is to enforce the New York City Human Rights Law, which “prohibits discrimination in New York City.” The areas covered by the Human Rights Law include employment, housing and public accommodations.
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It has retained the services of some men. For instance, Tony Florence, a general partner at the venture capital firm NEA, led an $8 million fund-raising round (the Wing has raised more than $40 million total). The Wing has also used male plumbers and electricians. But membership is for people who identify and live as women, said Audrey Gelman, a founder of the Wing, in an interview with The New York Times in October. “

The Colony Club and the Cosmopolitan Club, both in Manhattan, are women’s membership clubs, but they permit men on their premises as guests of members, which the Wing does not. The Colony and Cosmopolitan both employ men in positions such as doormen and waiters.

In an interview this week, Ms. Gelman said that the Wing does employ men, but she would not say how many or in what capacity.'