There are men's shelters. For years, there have been men's shelters. They're not as nice as women's shelters, which is part of the problem. Frequently, women who need shelters are fleeing abusive marriages or unable to afford a place of thier own... the ones fleeing abusive marriages find it much easier to find shelter. Frequently, men who need shelters are unalbe to afford a place of thier own or have been kicked out elsewhere for being intoxicated or high... They are RARELY fleeing for reasons of being abused (and the few who have that problem DO have a problem finding shelter). BUT all people who are displaced because of fire or flood or hurricanes... the traditional shelters are not nice for them, they're full of recovering alcoholics & habitually homeless... and they ALL tend to turn to Red Cross when disaster displaces them. That's what the Red Cross is all about. If there were a flood that displaced a bunch of single women who were not abused... you can bet the battered women's shelters would turn THEM away as well, send them to the red cross shelter.

Should he sue? Well, to sue for discrimination, you first have to prove that you're a member of a class of people who need protection of the anti-discrimination laws. What minority is this guy part of which has been traditionally unable to feed & house itself? When he showed up at a battered womens' shelter, asking to be housed becuase his house was ruined, what made him think he was part of THAT protected class & deserved to be protected? Was the fire or flood that ravated his house liable to chase him down, find him and maybe rape him?

I'm all for pushing for men to be protected from harm in an equal way as women... but I don't like it when the facts are skewed so that things sound like they're discriminatory when they're not. Talk to me about how men don't get custody of the kids, or how they're laughed out of court when they try to explain that the ex wife is abusive... but don't take that extra step & try to tell me that they're in more physical danger on a regular enough basis that we need entire dormatories dedicated to protecting them... and don't try to tell me that a man who is displaced due to a disaster is disccriminated against because he had to go to the Red Cross (which takes care of ALL people who are victims of disaster) rather than a battered women's shelter!