Editing Reformed Political Party (section)

=== Membership ===
==== Female membership ====
[[File:Lilian janse 27 maart 2014 bij de beediging als sgpraadslid in het stadhuis van vlissingen-1711546348 (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Lilian Janse]], the first female elected representative for the SGP, being sworn in as municipal councilor of Vlissingen in 2014.]]
Initially, women were not allowed to be member of the party. In 1983, the first woman, W. van Donge-van Bezooijen, applied for membership, but [[The Hague]] electoral association had rejected her application because she was a woman. She then wrote to the national party board, after which she and [[Riet Grabijn-van Putten]] became member in 1985. The party board however changed its position in 1991, rejecting membership for women. This position was supported by ninety percent of electoral associations in 1993. The party was aware that this might be against the [[Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women]].{{sfn|Vollaard|Voerman|2018|pp=104-107}}

Meanwhile, public opinion in the Netherlands turned against SGP's decision not to allow women. UN committees also recommended intervention. In 2003, the [[Clara Wichmann Institute]] and some other organisations sued the Dutch government, for subsidising SGP. The district court of The Hague ruled that the party could no longer receive subsidies from the government, while it did not force the SGP to change it statutes. Based on the verdict, the party decided to allow female membership, while still not allowing them on candidate lists.{{sfn|Vollaard|Voerman|2018|pp=107-110}} At the end of 2017, SGP had 800 female members.{{sfn|Vollaard|Voerman|2018|p=110}}

Meanwhile in 2005, the Dutch government had refused the SGP's application for subsidies. The administrative law division of the district court of The Hague supported the rejection. However, the [[Council of State (Netherlands)|Council of State]] overturned this decision in December 2007, maintaining that a party's political philosophy takes precedence, and that women have the opportunity to join other political parties where they can obtain a leadership role. Two weeks later, The Hague courts of appeal ruled on the first case that the SGP should also allow women's passive suffrage. The [[Supreme Court of the Netherlands]] affirmed this decision in 2010 and an appeal to the [[European Court of Human Rights]] was unsuccessful in 2012. As a result, the SGP changed its internal regulations to allow women to be candidates in elections.{{sfn|Vollaard|Voerman|2018|pp=111-113}}

Some women have been candidates starting with the [[2014 Dutch municipal elections|2014 municipal elections]], with [[lead candidate]] [[Lilian Janse]] becoming the first female elected representative for the SGP when she was elected municipal councilor in [[Vlissingen]] in 2014.{{sfn|Vollaard|Voerman|2018|p=113}}