Yacht club's men-only policy upsets potential membership

Taylor Swift has a home in this seaside community. But even one of the world's most famous women wouldn't be able to join the Westerly Yacht Club, which bestows full membership only on men.

A vote to change the policy at the nearly century-old club in the Ocean State, where the love of sailing runs deep, failed to reach a two-thirds majority last week, with 207 men voting for the change in a secret ballot and 171 men voting to keep it the way it is.

Wives can become associate members, and while they can run committees and organize parties at the club, they can't vote. Single women and married lesbians are not admitted, even as associates, because they are not married to a man. Gay men may join, but their husbands may not become associates, a status reserved for wives.