Sydney, my first thoughts were exactly the same as yours. I can see what Don is trying to do and appreciate that it must be hell on earth, there is no easy answer. Stuck between a rock and a hard place and both of them wielding a straight razor !
I refrained from posting due to said warning but I felt that, especially when Don made suggestions about how to go about starting off a ladies forum, that the restriction on men posting became somehow wrong.

As far as post restrictions I could see a good use for "you must have been a member for x months and have posted at least y times" before you can start a thread in B/S/T, or perhaps you could make it so that you can only start a thread in B/S/T if you've made a donation. Other than that private conversations are what "Private Messages" are for I'm not sure I see a place for limited access groups or threads here

Barney