Well yeah, it’s discrimination in a common understanding of the term but race and gender receive 2 different levels of legal protection from discrimination. And to the extent that there is ANY protection, public and private businesses/venues are subject to different laws concerning discrimination. Just saying “that’s discrimination” doesn’t automatically trigger legal protection. There’s a reason that adjusted prices based on sex is a common and pervasive practice. Although it is being dialed back in the current social climate, it still happens with frequency.

Now, let’s say a federally funded school decides to discriminate based on gender. They STILL may be able to but only if they pass certain constitutional tests. Title IX (federal protections based on sex) is spreading to different areas of law and society but more slowly than racial protections did (which, itself, wasn’t very quick to spread). For example, military academies until recently were very secure in their ability to blankety turn away females based on social and biological differences between men and women. That’s changing with further introduction of women into the military - especially in roles of prominence and authority, and an increasing awareness of assault (and therefore, at least somewhat, reduced sexual assault on females in the military).

But think about how several areas in life are segregated, sexually. Take pro-sports for example. Women cannot play in the NBA. But arguably that COULD be a violation of state and federal employment laws. It just hasn’t ever really been heavily challenged. At least not successfully and not yet.

Long story short, race classes are protected more expansively and powerfully than age, gender, and orientation. Gender and orientation protections are both evolving in the law and will be interesting to watch as society continues to challenge the traditional notions of binary genders and sexuality. Long gone are the days where you’re either a woman or a man and either straight or gay. With that comes new and interesting challenges to laws and decisive shaping of these laws by legislators and the courts. But it’s far from settled that gender based pricing that leads to different price points for one gender over another gender is illegal. Not at the current moment for private events, at least.