California Court of Appeals rules that domestic violence laws improperly discriminate against men

A while back I watched the movie Pursuit of Happiness which tells the story of a father attempting raise his son while trying to move up in the world. They wound up homeless and they wound up turned away from some shelters because the father was ... well... not female.

Interestingly a month or two ago, the California Court of Appeals reached the following conclusion:

We find the gender-based classifications in the challenged statutes that provide programs for victims of domestic violence violate equal protection. We find male victims of domestic violence are similarly situated to female victims for purposes of the statutory programs and no compelling state interest justifies the gender classification. We reform the affected statutes by invalidating the exemption of males and extending the statutory benefits to men, whom the Legislature improperly excluded.

(HT: MND)