I appreciate your zeal for egalitarianism however, there are many historical and extant groups and clubs that quite literally ban the inclusion of women. I don't know if they have online counterparts, but I do know they exist and operate in the real world. If an IRL group or club can ban access to women, why is it so odd to have an online forum that restricts access to men?

If we're speaking of online only spaces, there are plenty of groups across the span of social media that are locked/private/require application to join or participate, I don't really see a difference. A local community Facebook page allows non members to see posts but subsequent comment discussions or the ability to post is banned for anyone who isn't a member. An ex partner of mine ran several servers for online gaming that banned or removed any women players for reasons too stupid to go into here (I was 19 and very lost). This space just uses mods instead of an application process to achieve the same.

(Many thanks to all the mods here btw, your efforts and dedication are much appreciated!)