Fair enough. In that case, stipulate that "Heated banter should be expected. If you can't handle that blah blah." Basically, there's better solutions than the shotgun approach.
Are women incapable of understanding that people can be a-holes especially in an unregulated "sporting" competition? Lots of a-holes out there. Just put a warning, let women know, and offer advice if necessary. This is just plain ol' wrong.
I think they are fully capable of understanding. But I can guess that the LAN party probably gets tons of complaints regarding assholes and women every year and just decided to put a stop to it.
Just look at a site like Reddit (which probably is the same demographic as a LAN party). As soon as a women appears, the assholes come out.
I think they probably figured out that that would mean kicking 99% of the LAN party out.