What's the current law regarding single sex private clubs? Whilst racism may be viewed as wrong, surely there are plenty of cases where discrimination is legal, and isn't necessarily viewed as wrong - people may have reasons for only being with members of the same sex, and we wouldn't consider them sexist.
I'd say that wanting to have a place to be with other smokers for the purpose of smoking is more comparable to this, than racism, since there are clear rational reasons for this (as long as we accept it's not unreasonable to want to smoke), where as race segregation was based on prejudice.
There're plenty of examples where either private clubs or even places open to the public have rules about who is and isn't allowed in, from Scouts disallowing atheists, to shopping centres banning people with hoodies, and people often defend this with the argument "it's private, they can do what they like".
So the question of whether this should also apply to someone setting up a "smoking club" especially for the purpose of smoking is very reasonable I think - racial segregation may be a thing of the past, but there are plenty of more relevant comparisons which are still legal and considered acceptable.
Now, the argument for banning smoking everywhere is to do with the rights of the employees, which isn't a factor in running no-hoodie-shopping centres or single sex clubs. Or white-people-only clubs, come to that.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-02-15 11:21 pm (UTC)I'd say that wanting to have a place to be with other smokers for the purpose of smoking is more comparable to this, than racism, since there are clear rational reasons for this (as long as we accept it's not unreasonable to want to smoke), where as race segregation was based on prejudice.
There're plenty of examples where either private clubs or even places open to the public have rules about who is and isn't allowed in, from Scouts disallowing atheists, to shopping centres banning people with hoodies, and people often defend this with the argument "it's private, they can do what they like".
So the question of whether this should also apply to someone setting up a "smoking club" especially for the purpose of smoking is very reasonable I think - racial segregation may be a thing of the past, but there are plenty of more relevant comparisons which are still legal and considered acceptable.
Now, the argument for banning smoking everywhere is to do with the rights of the employees, which isn't a factor in running no-hoodie-shopping centres or single sex clubs. Or white-people-only clubs, come to that.