A tech conference advertised as being for women and non-binary individuals was overrun by men claiming to be non-binary in an apparent trolling stunt.
The conference, the Grace Hopper Celebration, is an annual career fair that aims to “bring the research and career interest of women in computing to the forefront.” It is a fiscally-sponsored project of AnitaB, a left-leaning tax-exempt organization.
This year, the event was hosted in person in Orlando, FL with a virtual attendance option. “Entry to the GHC 23 Event Platform is exclusively for registered attendees. Don’t miss out on the world’s largest gathering of women and non-binary technologists!” their description for the event read.
While the men did register, and verbally identified as non-binary (despite wearing lanyards with he/him pronouns), it wasn’t enough to satisfy the conference organizers and other attendees.
“These men are acting like zoo animals, sprinting to the booths, and physically hurting some of the attendees,” one attendant complained. “This is a space for women in tech,” another said. “This is one of those few, limited resources that isn’t for you. It’s for us.”
“Yesterday, it became clear that there are a far greater number of cisgender men than we anticipated. Simply put, some of you lied about your gender when you registered,” said AnitaB Chief Impact Officer Cullen White.
A message to cis men attending #GHC23 from Cullen White, Chief Impact Officer at https://t.co/t5BIqtZFZc. pic.twitter.com/HX6sU8uafp
— AnitaB.org (@AnitaB_org) September 27, 2023
“As evidenced by the stacks and stacks of resumes you were passing out, you did so because you thought you could come here and take space to try to get a job. We need male allies. We need men who want to celebrate women, who want to work with and for women.” He accused them of taking tickets that rightfully belonged to women, and demanded that they “stop, right now, stop!”
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Generation She founder and CEO Avni Barman told 404 media: “I can’t speak about the years in between, but it was definitely a huge jarring difference… I was definitely pretty shocked. When I arrived at the conference, I was pretty confused about what was going on. I had hundreds of girls come running to me basically in tears.”
Advisory President of AnitaB.org Young Lee responded to complains from attendees on LinkedIn and other platforms with a video.
“In the past, it has always felt safe and loving and embracing. And this year I must admit I didn’t feel this way,” she said. “And I know that many of you feel this way. Many of you are feeling unsafe physically and psychologically, and you’re feeling unheard. I want you to know that we’re taking this so personally and I’m taking it personally.”
A message to the https://t.co/t5BIqtZFZc community from Bo Young Lee, https://t.co/t5BIqtZFZc Advisory President pic.twitter.com/4ElGNwHZHc
— AnitaB.org (@AnitaB_org) September 29, 2023
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