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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Maybe I am in denial.  I would love for other Congressional members to weigh in if I am wrong . .  .
[/quote]

Yes, you are in denial. By there very definition, country clubs and other membership clubs are designed and intended to convey status.

For heaven's sake, their websites don't even have information about how to become a member on them.

That said, I am finding this thread oddly fascinating.

So, how are these various clubs with regard to admitting gay and lesbian people and their families?[/quote]

I admit I may be in denial (and of course know that there are members at Congressional who are probably assholes/racists/homophobes; there are after all, more than 1000 members). But with all due respect, if you aren't a member, how do you know what the people are like.

What exactly is the social status you thinks clubs convey?  What does it buy you?  Certain types of friends that you won't otherwise have from your work, neighborhood, school?  Admission into elite schools?  I don't get it.

It may have been that historically this was the purpose of clubs, but not buying that this is the case anymore.   Maybe it is a generational thing.  It goes back to the point that people think members have secret meetings and talk about how fabulous they are and pat each other on the back.

We use Congressional to play golf, use the pool and restaurants, period.  I don't go there with the purpose of gaining admission to some exclusive group of people.  I have better things to do with my time.

Since we all have so much time on our hands (baby is sleeping), I will also make a point about business contacts, since someone mentioned it above.  Yes, clubs are a great place to bring/impress clients.  So, if you have a client who likes to play golf, it is a good thing and probably helps build business to bring them to your club.  You can certainly do a lot of schmoozing in the 5 hours that it takes to play golf.

But it not generally the case that joining a club will help you GET clients who are members, in my opnion.  At least at Congressional, it is considered impolite/uncool to discuss business at the club. In fact, you are prohibited from conducting business on the grounds (unless you rent one of the conference rooms).  We are reminded of that all the time (of course, people break the rule and it is not always clear what is conducting business v. just talking about business).

I know that when I play golf, we often don't know what the other people in our group do until well near the end of the round (and maybe not even then).  In other words, people don't say.  "Hi, and am John Doe and the CEO of Marriot."  That would be considered crass.

People want to enjoy themselves, not be pitched for work.  It would probably even backfire if you approached a member and asked for business.

Also, there are so many members, what are the chances that you are going to randomly meet up with someone who is in your field and actually in the position to help you out, or give you business.

That said, if you are constantly running into/being paired up with someone who is in your field, of course you will become friendly and may decide to do business together, or they may give you advice or refer you to someone who can help you.  But if someone thinks joining a club (and spending $100K) is going to help them build his/her business with members, they are crazy.

On the issue of no information on the website, I agree that is strange and was frustrating to me when i wasn't a member.  But I suppose b/c you need someone to sponsor you, there is no need to put on the website; you just ask your friend and they give you the information.  And yes, I understand that the fact that you need a current member to sponsor you does mean there is some self-selection.

I don't think anyone gives any thought to whether a member is gay/lesbian.  I am sure there are many members who have gay/lesbian friends and who would act as a sponsor -- then the process described above.  Have you tried it?

I think the bottom line is that people think that all club members must be white and conservative assholes (not that all conservatives are assholes).  I am a liberal and so are many people I know at the club.   We are a new generation, thank god.   (BTW, I know discrimination when I see it, I am a partner at a law firm and bump my head up against the glass ceiling on a daily basis.  Very interesting that more than 50% of new associates are women, but only 15-20% of the partners are women at most law firms, but I digress.)

[/quote]
So if it is all so ordinary and decidedly unfancy - why the heck did you pay 100K to join a CC when you could go to your neighborhood pool, play tennis on the Y courts (not clay, I know), and play golf on one of the public courses in the area?  I'm just not buying it.[/quote]

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