"Freemasons to allow women members for first time - if they joined as men"

telegraph.co.uk

"The Freemasons are to allow women members for the first time in its 300-year history, but only if they were men at the point they joined, it has emerged.

In guidance issued to its 200,000 members, the United Grand Lodge of England made the ruling under its 'gender reassignment policy', which says that anyone wishing to join must be male but once admitted can remain a member as a woman.

Anyone who has become a man can also apply, The Times reported...

The new guidance comes after The Telegraph disclosed that Edward Lord, who is overseeing a gender identity drive as part of his role as chairing the City of London's establishment committee, was himself a Freemason amid hypocrisy claims.

Mr Lord chairs the City of London's establishment committee, which has begun a consultation on ending sex segregation in its women-only spaces such as public lavatories and changing facilities at landmarks in the capital.

A Twitter row erupted as it emerged that Mr Lord, who identifies as non-binary and asks to be described by the pronoun 'they,' is a Freemason, an institution that has largely refused to allow women to join its men-only lodges."