A legal crusade against Ladies' Night

A Denver activist is challenging the discriminatory promotion - and winning.

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(FORTUNE Small Business) -- Gentlemen, Steve Horner has your back, protecting you from what he calls the "feminist-Marxist" conspiracy that promotes ladies' nights in bars.

You might chuckle - unless, of course, you own such an establishment. Horner, 60, a divorced father of two and a former small-business owner turned author, has spent the past 18 months filing civil rights complaints against Denver bars and clubs that offer ladies' night discounts.

And he's been winning: The Colorado Civil Rights Commission issued a resolution discouraging - if not banning - the promotions, and in two cases a judge awarded Horner $182 and $141.

Still, Denver's entrepreneurs are proving to be endlessly adaptive. Horner's first victim, Proof Niteclub, launched Lipstick Thursdays, where appropriately war-painted men got the same discounts as their sisters.

"That seems like a clever solution to do exactly what bar owners want to do without doing something that would be found illegal," says Northwestern University law professor Kimberly Yuracko.

New York City nightclubs should pay heed to how the West is being won, since a Big Apple crusader has filed lawsuits against such institutions as China Club and LotusTo top of page

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Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2013 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones IndexesSM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones IndexesSM © 2013 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2013. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.