BTW, even as a female the wording, We are asking that men stay OUT. rankles me. I suspect I would be hard pressed to not anger women who feel the need for such gender segrated space.
I wonder what the reponse would be if there were a "Whites Only" Forum?
We can talk about how great it is to have private forums where one class of people can just talk about their issues without having to be "bothered" by diverse opinions expressed by individuals from other classes of individuals if any of us really believe that. But I doubt that is truly the case if people consider what they are really saying.
If we cannot insert any class of people (ie: whites, blacks, christians, jews, gays, heterosexuals, etc) into the phrase "_______ Only" and expect it to sound equally acceptable to all and have it be equally inoffensive to all, we need to seriously consider whether it is in fact discriminatory. One could argue that having a "Womens Only" forum where men are denied access and whose posts/opinions are removed clearly shows discriminatory intent.
The fact that a majority of opinion may tolerate or even encourage a particular form of discrimination because for some odd reason they see it as acceptable does not change the underlying discriminatory aspect of it nor does it lessen the harm imposed on those who are discriminated against. Now, we can argue how important it may be for women to have their own exclusive club to hang out in and how grossly unfair it would be for them to be denied the oppotunity to maintain exclusionary membership limits based soley on gender - about as successfully as we can argue that those poor long suffering white/racist country club members in the 1960's south deserved the same right to have a place they could hang out in free from the presence and opinions of black members. Predjudice is Predjudice even when you dress it up with feminism.
Similarly saying the board is privately owned and can do what it wants does not work either. There is a lunch counter from a southern diner in the Museum of American History that is there because someone made that point abundantly clear in the 1960's.
Title II of the Civil Rights Act requires that restaurants, hotels, theaters, sales or rental services, health care providers, transportation hubs, and
other service venues afford to all persons full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, [and] facilities without discrimination or segregation.
Personally as a male, disregarding my status as a male with a MS in Counseling, I am offended and harmed by the implication that my opinions and apparently gender based lack of sensitivity would in some way damage the discussion in a "Womens Only" forum just because I have a penis and must therefore be like every other person with a penis. Sounds like predjudice and discrimination to me.
Can we get our heads out of our collective asses now? (An orifice possessed by both sexes, by the way, making neither sex immune from having their head up it.) Having a "Womens" forum is fine and announcing the fact to all that he or she is in the "Womens" forum is a great idea in order to let any visitors know that a degree of sensitivity to womens issues may be approriate. However banning or discouraging males from partcipating, or treating their threads and posts differently or with less courtesy or respect in that forum is clearly sexist and discriminatory and cannot be tolerated as all members of this board deserve and are entitled to equal access and protection in all of the forums.
When I come into YOUR forum, I will be sure to abide by the customs and rules therein. While you are in mine, I expect no less from you. 
