From its beginnings, the Native Sons has been more progressive in receiving into its membership people who typically were shut out of other organizations. For example, the Native Sons never denied membership to applicants on religious grounds. Likewise, even its earliest membership rolls are dotted with Hispanic surnames. Nevertheless, as was normative for many of its counterpart organizations in times gone by, for a number of decades, the Native Sons was heavily dominated by a tone of Anglo-Saxon Americanism that included some exclusionary membership policies. As time has progressed, those policies have long since been succeeded by forward-looking, all-embracing ones. So today, the Native Sons membership encompasses people from all ethnic segments that characterize the richly diverse general population of California.
And, although we still revere our name of Native Sons, over the years, many women, looking beyond the paradox of nomenclature, have joined our ranks.