Suits Target Women-Only Weight-Loss Salons : Discrimination: The man who made Disneyland drop its ban on same-sex dancing is trying to force Gloria Marshall to offer its programs to men.

Andrew Exler, the self-styled anti-discrimination crusader who forced Disneyland to drop its ban on same-sex dancing and won the right for men to attend Chippendale’s male stripper shows, decided he would like to lose about 40 pounds.

So he opened the newspaper to look for weight-loss program advertisements. Gloria Marshall Figure Salon’s ad caught his eye: “Exclusive Program for Women Only,” it said. Exler called some of the Orange County salons and a Torrance location listed in the ad.

“Are you calling for your wife?” he was asked.

“No,” he replied. He wanted to become a member of the salon himself.

Amused employees told him that was out of the question. Gloria Marshall’s eight California salons serve women only.

Now Exler, 29, has filed two lawsuits--one in Orange County Superior Court and the other in Torrance Superior Court--contending that the salon’s policy violates the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which forbids discrimination by businesses on the basis of sex, race or religion.

Exler, a Palm Springs legal assistant, also is upset with the newspapers that have been running the advertisements, including The Times. He has filed a complaint with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which enforces anti-discrimination laws, contending that the ads are “aiding and abetting” Gloria Marshall in its discrimination.

“Their women-only policy is just plain wrong,” Exler said. “I have the right as a man, as a gay, as a Jew, to utilize every business establishment that’s available in this state and I intend to do that.”

Company officials, however, said their policy is not discriminatory.

“We’ve designed a program specifically for the weight-loss needs and health needs of women,” said Mark Bergendahl, company president and Gloria Marshall’s son.

“In 25 years, we have not had any experience with men, and I feel it would be imprudent of us to contend that we can handle a man’s needs. . . . Physiologically, men and women have different makeups and we are simply specializing,” he said.

Bergendahl said that the salons’ operations are “a semi-locker-room situation in which there is some degree of undressing and things of that nature,” and that the company does not allow men in the salons to protect the privacy of clients.

Although Exler’s suits seeks $1 million each in damages, Exler said he would waive all monetary awards if the company agrees without a court battle to change its policy.

“This isn’t about money,” he said. “This is about changing policies and enforcing equal rights.”

Exler said he has formally requested that The Times stop running Gloria Marshall advertisements stating the women-only policy.

Laura Morgan, a spokeswoman for The Times, said officials are reviewing Exler’s complaint.

“We feel at this time that since at this point . . . there has been no court order issued or determination made regarding Gloria Marshall’s policy, that it would be unfair of us to stop running their ad,” she said.

Exler, who filed the suit himself, is no stranger to such court actions.

In 1980, Exler sued Disneyland over its ban on same-sex dancing after security guards ordered him and another man to leave a park dance floor, stating that only heterosexual couples were allowed. Disneyland settled that suit in 1984 and dropped the restriction.

Two years ago, Exler sued Chippendale’s, which features all-male strip shows, when security guards refused to allow him and another man to enter.