It probably wasn't that question. There might be more to it than you know. There is also the potential that what he told you was actually quite different than what went down in the interview.
With the ability to record nearly every interview now days, I mean the interviewee as well as the interviewer. Since that could directly be stated as sexist it's unlikely that it's the truth. However, if it is, he should likely try to follow up and possibly take more political measures. File a complaint to the powers that be in your area. Or just move onto another, better, company.
I'm sure everybody here knows that as long as the work done is of high quality, sex is not a weighted measure.

yeah, good luck finding a court that thinks sexism against men is a thing.

the fact that your friend got fired over that is one the dumbest reasons i have ever heard that someone got fired over.

I have a feeling we are not getting the full picture.

Tagged for later when I will answer in full. I suspect there is more to this than meets the eye.

Honestly you did it right ! Only the skills shoud count not the gender, religion etc.

If I should have a surgery, I would like to be operated by the best of the best, not giving a shit about the gender. Just the one with the best skills !

Thats fucked up if true

You always get a trap question in interview like this, or when you pass a test on a psy.

It's 50/50, you need to give the correct answer for the guy/girl. If you'r right, it's good. If he/she don't like your answer, then it's game over for you, the rest of your interview is useless.

To be fair, though, your friend gave a bullshit answer. My follow-up question to that would be "Yes, no, or undecided?"

But, yeah, this kind of shit is not supposed to happen - especially if you're a CEO who just cut a hundred jobs to promote efficiency and some rainbow-haired idiot hires incompetent people because of their color or sexuality.

I'm sorry but how does that question have anything to do with his actual work? It's an opinion which is completely irrelevant to the outcome of his work.

Perhaps if they were hiring for a manegerial or recruitment position, but other than that I don't see the point.