Group Urges State to Cancel Bohemian Club Liquor License

SAN FRANCISCO — In the latest attack on private men’s clubs, two state assemblymen, women lawyers groups and a public interest law firm called on the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission to revoke the liquor license of the Bohemian Club, attorneys involved in the effort said Thursday.

A commission decision to revoke the club’s license for excluding new members on the basis of race or sex would be the first such move against a private men’s club. Loss of the license would preclude the club from selling drinks, which is a large source of revenue.

Fredric D. Woocher of the Center for Law in Public Interest in Los Angeles demanded in a letter to the commission that it revoke the Bohemian Club’s license and initiate “disciplinary proceedings” against the club.

Disclaims Discrimination

Woocher said the club should lose its license because it violates state anti-discrimination laws by barring women as members. The 2,300-member club, which counts as its members top government leaders and business executives, acknowledges that it does not admit women but says it does not discriminate.

Woocher wrote the letter on behalf of Board of Equalization Chairman Conway Collis, San Francisco Women Lawyers Alliance, California Women Lawyers, and Assemblymen Elihu M. Harris (D-Oakland) and Terry B. Friedman (D-Tarzana), who is carrying a bill that would deny liquor licenses to such clubs.

Bohemian Club President Harry Scott said he was unaware of the letter.