But the meeting was also notable for another reason. The council voted to expel a member named Raymond Lloyd, who was in fact a woman - real name Sophie Lloyd - who had been "masquerading as a male" in order to gain access to the society.
She had been admitted 18 months earlier after wearing a disguise, and decided to reveal herself when the organisation voted to admit women in 1991. Despite the new policy, Lloyd was rapidly expelled by members angry at her "deliberate deception," the meeting notes state.
Now the Magic Circle is trying to track Lloyd down to apologise for what happened to her and admit her back into the society. Perhaps characteristically, after tricking the world's most famous society of magicians, she now appears to have disappeared.
"It's almost as if they just made her vanish from thin air, tried to brush it under the carpet, but obviously now the story has come out and we're so desperate to right this wrong," said Laura London, the first female chair of the Magic Circle.
This story is from the November 12, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the November 12, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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