Edgewood Garden Club – Accepting New Members

(Just not gay ones)

Are you interested in joining the Edgewood Garden Club? They are celebrating their 90th anniversary in 2025 and are accepting new members. The membership criteria seems simple – not gay.

Hi! I’m Eliott. I have lived in Edgewood for more than 10 years.

Six years ago I reached out to Edgewood Garden Club President Bobbi Holland about joining. Bobbi quickly responded and invited me to the Facebook group. We exchanged pleasantries and established some personal connections.

I was excited about my new membership. The next day, I told my neighbors that I had joined the garden club. They laughed at me and said, “oh, sweetie, you are not a member of the garden club.” I was confused. I confidently showed them my messages with Bobbi Holland. Having wisdom from past experiences, they instructed me to ask Bobbi about the membership dues. So I did. When I asked for information about the dues, she replied, “That’s only for actual members.” You can read the messages below.

Since my initial inquiry was not apparently clear, I replied expressing interest in becoming an actual member. She gave me a cryptic response, but agreed to send me an application. That was 6 years ago.

Fast forward to 2024. I was nominated for Yard of the Month. I was contacted by Leslie Williamson – a member of the club.

I immediately asked for information on the membership process. Again, you can read the chat below. As Bobbi did before, Leslie gave me a cryptic response.

I told her I was not interested in accepting the nomination if the Club precludes gays from becoming members.

I asked Leslie specifically, “is sexual orientation a part of the membership decision?”

She responded apologetically and dismissed the notion that they would exclude me because of my sexual orientation. As Bobbi did before, Leslie agreed to bring me a membership application. Can you guess what happened next? Nothing.

So, here I am, 6 years later. My application is “still in the mail” apparently.

The Edgewood Garden Club is part of National Garden Clubs, Inc. National Garden Club, Inc. maintains a “commitment to inclusivity” and “is committed to an environment that promotes a culture of diversity and inclusion in alignment with the mission, vision, and values of the organization.