Things Have Gone Too Far

From AP via Yahoo News:

'Ladies Night' Discount Axed in N.J. Bars

TRENTON, N.J. - The state's top civil rights official has ruled that taverns cannot offer discounts to women on "ladies nights," agreeing with a man who claimed such gender-based promotions discriminated against men.

David R. Gillespie said it was not fair for women to get into the Coastline nightclub for free and receive discounted drinks while men paid a $5 cover charge and full price for drinks.

In his ruling Tuesday, J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo, director of the state Division on Civil Rights, rejected arguments by the nightclub that ladies nights were a legitimate promotion.

Later in the story we find that some States have the right idea:

[C]ourts in Illinois and Washington state have said that ladies nights are permissible because they do not discriminate against men but rather encourage women to attend.

James E. McGreevey, the governor of New Jersey, is quoted as saying that the ruling "is an overreaction that reflects a complete lack of common sense and good judgment."

Not bad for a Democrat.