A rock music training day for teenagers of all genders except heterosexual males. Is this ok? Isn’t gender discrimination unlawful?

Radio NZ (which should change its name to Feminist Radio) states the following:

For five days in January, 40 young women, trans and gender non-conforming youth will gather at Auckland’s MAINZ Institute to rock n roll.

It’s New Zealand’s first Girls Rock Camp, and it aims to help address the underrepresentation of women in the local music industry.

The camp is designed to empower and support young women, trans and gender non-conforming youth by giving them practical skills, role models and a safe, supportive space.

It’s open to kids between 12 and 17 years-old, with no musical experience necessary.

Ever since the first Girls Rock Camp was held in Portland, Oregon in 2001, the camps have been popping up all over the world.

Fundamentally we’re not sure we accept modern ideas of ‘human rights’ disallowing exclusion on the basis of such things as gender, race, religion, intelligence or ugliness. However, what’s good for the goose must be good for the gander. Men are not allowed to have clubs or services that discriminate against women. If we put on a rock school specifically excluding females, you can imagine the uproar. Is gender discrimination ok only if it suits females?

It’s not as though the purpose of the ‘camp’ is an activity only of relevance to females. There seems no reason to exclude males except that females don’t want them there. It’s not comparable to sports teams that need to exclude one gender to maintain fairness given biological differences on average.

What about the message this gives to teenage boys? Aren’t enough young males killing themselves already?

Is this worth a complaint to the Human Rights Commission?