Are the Women-Only 'Wonder Woman' Screenings Illegal?
Director Patty Jenkins broke a record with over $100 million in box office sales for Wonder Woman this weekend, with fans across the country celebrating the female power the film represents.Â
Employees at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin and New York capitalized on the excitement, offering women-only screenings and pledging to donate the proceeds to Planned Parenthood.
But J. Stephen Clark, a professor of law at the Albany Law School, took issue with the single-gender screenings. He told WNYC host Sean Carlson that this kind of discrimination can set a dangerous precedent for other businesses to be selective with the services they provide.
"That's exactly what pharmacists say, for example, when they want to refuse to fill a woman's prescription for an emergency contraceptive," says Clark.
Clark filed the complaint against the Alamo Drafthouse with Austin's Equal Employment and Fair Housing Office.Â
Another discrimination complaint was filed with the New York City Human Rights Commission at the end of May, though Clark is not connected to it.
