Black Reapplies for Elks Lodge Membership

A black man who was twice denied membership last year in the Van Nuys Elks Lodge, bringing on a state civil rights investigation, said Monday he has reapplied for admission to the fraternal organization without the political connections he blamed for the failure of his first two attempts.

Thomas J. Montgomery, 68, of Pacoima, said he sent an application last week to a lodge member who agreed to sponsor him.

Montgomery and another black applicant were sponsored in September by Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Tarzana). Their rejections brought on accusations that the lodge’s admissions policies were racially biased, which became the subject of an investigation by the state attorney general’s office.

Lodge members said the applicants were rejected because many members resented Robbins’ involvement. Earlier this year, the lodge admitted two other blacks, which lodge members said proved their policies were not biased.