Freemasonry Is For All
Not just dudes like us
In my view we do well to recognize that Freemasonry is more varied than it might seem at first glance. Doing so harms no Mason’s personal Masonic experience, but it can serve to provide factual information if we ever receive an inquiry about it, and it can prevent misunderstandings about Freemasonry in the broader world.
My Lodge is composed of men only. As is my Grand Lodge, as is every Grand Lodge my Jurisdiction recognizes as regular. My Lodge and Grand Lodge won’t change this, and indeed can’t change this due to the Obligations we have all taken.
Personally, I believe it to be a good thing that my Lodge is composed of men only. I think that the dynamic and personal interactions that take place within it would be much different if it were a mixed gender group.
I also don’t think it puts Freemasonry far outside of the mainstream of our society. Freemasonry’s purpose, as practiced by my Lodge, is to help a good man become an even better man. In short, it is a forum for individual self improvement, and many self improvement groups are gender specific.
In short, I think our system is good, and I have no interest in changing it.
But I also recognize that my kind of Freemasonry is not the only kind of Freemasonry out there. Female only Freemasonic groups exist, as do mixed-gender organizations. They exist, and in some cases, have existed for a very long time. Including right here in my little corner of the world.
Given that, it is my view that if we are asked by a woman if she can be a Freemason, our answer should not be no. Rather our answer should be yes, that Freemasonic groups exist that women can be members of. If we want to be helpful, we can provide information about how the person asking can make contact with these groups. Regardless of gender, there is a Masonic group for every good person who seeks to become a better person.
Acknowledging that fact is not a political statement, nor a statement of dissatisfaction with Freemasonry as we know it. It is simply an acknowledgement of the facts as they exist, and as they have existed for a very long time.
We should not lie to ourselves, nor to others by making a claim that only a man may become a Freemason. To make such a claim simply shows that we lack knowledge about the wide variety of forms of Freemasonry that exist. Male only Masonry is the big form, but it is not the only form.
I am not familiar with the organizations below, other than what I have occasionally seen about them online, but I believe that all of them are active in my little corner of the world:
The Grand Lodge of California has published the following FAQ which includes more information and resources:
The United Grand Lodge of England has published the following information about female Freemasonry within that country:
I hope that this post is helpful to you if you ever happen to get a question about Masonic membership from someone who would not meet the particular requirements of your Lodge.
Hello, Broth.'. Cameron,
S.'. S.'. S.'.
My name is Hugo Ramirez and I am a Freemason from Brazil [more specifically, the Grand.'. Or.'. do Bras.'., Loj.'. Grande Mestre Alberto Mansur, 3196 - Rio de Janeiro]. I have only recently come across your substack, but having read some of the posts on the archive, I find it to be most "fair and perfect". It is my pleasure to read such positive and illuminating words from a man who has occupied High Offices in his jurisdiction.
It is not directly related to this post, but since it talks about diversity, I reckon that it is one of the strengths of our society to be so rooted in essential values, instead of passing fad, that we indeed manage to have a "Universal Brotherhood" that extends across the globe and gathers men from different backgrounds, different paths of life. My Brazilian experience is certainly very different from your in Washington, but we are certainly connected by everlasting bonds in our pledges to Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.
It is so good to participate in such a conversation that it even gives me the itch to start a substack and share a bit of our view on Freemasonry - we have been around here in Brazil for over 200 years now and both our history and current ways of working on the Craft seem to me to be a source of enrichment for our BBroth.'. abroad.
T.'. F.'. A.'.
Broth.'. Hugo Ramirez
Loj.'. Grande Mestre Alberto Mansur, 3196
Grand.'. Or.'. do Rio de Jan.'. - Grand.'. Or.'. do Bras.'.
Sorry brother, but this Feminist approach to life is part of the destruction of the temple and masonry as a whole. The craft as a whole is better off being a place where men can be men and learn to be better men. We already have lost every place where men could be men to the women of the world - the office, the gym, the golf club, even the bathrooms now are "inclusive." I would never in a million years sit in lodge with a woman - ever and would never have joined Freemasonry if it was about making women better men. Women can have their own thing, no one is stopping them, they just need to leave our thing to us, period.