The general manager of Windsor’s Caboto Club says the club’s constitution won’t be rewritten to allow voting female members.

Former Essex town councillor Denisa Blackburn was a long-time member of the Fogolar Furlan Club, but decided to make the switch because her grandfather was a member of the Caboto Club.

She says she emailed the club to enquire about membership fees but never received a reply. There is a women’s auxiliary group, but it doesn’t have voting rights within the club.

Blackburn says she has also learned her son isn’t eligible for membership either because his Italian heritage is on his mother’s side. “They say they celebrate Italian history, heritage and culture,” she says. “My Italia includes women. Why than in this day and age does the Caboto continue to support an archaic 1925 rule that marginalizes my grandfather’s Italian ancestry and history, and make me feel less of a person?”

Ron Moro says the constitution is part of the club’s heritage. He says it’ll be up to future members to decide if they want to allow female voting members.