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Gowron says this line in Redemption part 1, contextually the relevant women are Lursa and B'etor. And this rule is reinforced during House of Quark (with Gowron still in power), necessitating the plot of that episode. Yet, we know that L'Rell and Azetbur served as Chancellor (and unless I am mistaken, women councillors are glimpsed at the end of Broken Bow).
Earlier in TNG in the episode "Emissary," Gowron even offers to bribe K'ehleyr with a seat on the Council (notably this is right before Gowron rose to power and while Duras, the man, was still alive).
It has to be that Gowron made up the rule as a direct obstacle for the Duras sisters! The Chancellor is often shown to have great personal power over establishing just who is and is not eligible for a spot. Grilka is even allowed, personally by Gowron, to serve on the Council by "special dispensation" at the end of House of Quark-- By which time, the Duras sisters have both gone off the deep end and are currently off working with Dr. Tolian Soran to develop illegal Trilithium weapons. A few short weeks later they would be dead, and by the time we next see Grilka, she's leading the "House of Grilka" and it's no longer any kind of issue.
Perhaps Gowron quietly dropped the rule after the Duras sisters died, and of course we have never heard Martok talk about it.
Edit: Also, it seems strange that they would have laws that forbid women, but not aliens (Quark) from leading a Great House on the Council? It would be a serious "ain't no rule says a dog can't play basketball" type oversight.
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I'm inclined to think that you are correct, Gowron indeed sought to block the Duras sisters from exerting any kind of real influence as his true reason for implementing the rule. Klingons don't strike me as a particularly sexist society, particularly when it comes to matters of duty and honor. They are an highly steeped warrior culture with a deep respect for the past and it's traditions, it makes sense that there may have been legacy rule or more likely a tradition that precluded females from acting in warrior type roles. This could have made sense in a prior era where the duty of a Klingon woman was to bear many children, particularly in times where the Empire was rapidly expanding and greater Klingon number were needed to help it grow and spread. Indeed, the fact that the Chancellor could issue special dispensation at all would suggest it was a traditional separation of duties that Klingon culture at the time followed and that women who displayed true "warrior spirit" could be permitted to change tracks.
By K'mpec's time it was likely a tradition that was no longer observed, nor actively enforced. But when Gowron came to power the threat of the Duras sisters was a very real and present one and simply refusing to grant dispensation for *all* females on the basis of honoring older traditions could very well have been a strategic move to block them without specifically being seen to be targeting them, which would then have provided the basis for a honor based combat challenge which I'm sure Gowron would have wanted to avoid.