The Minnesota Department of Human Rights has filed gender discrimination charges against five Twin Cities bars, alleging that they violated the rights of men everywhere—by holding ladies’ night. “Gender-based pricing violates the Human Rights Act,” the commissioner tells the Star-Tribune, vowing to pursue every complaint received about on the matter. The state tried a similar crackdown back in 1994, but most bars shrugged and kept the cheap drinks flowing.
“It isn’t a matter of wanting to discriminate. If you’ve got 200 ladies, you have 400 men,” says a Tavern League of Minnesota official. “This is just a marketing niche.” The previous head of the Human Rights Department said he too sees no problem with the promotion. “It is on its face discriminatory,” he said, “but on a practical level, it’s a little bit of ‘Who cares?’” (More bar stories.)