'Non-binary loophole' exploited by men to gatecrash women's tech conference
Men have been accused of 'lying about their gender' to gain access to a women-only tech conference in Orlando. (Stock image)
Getty/ Mayur Kakade
Men have been accused of "lying about their gender" to gain access to a women-only tech conference in Orlando, US.
Some male event-goers are said to have claimed to be "non-binary" in order to attend one of the largest job fairs for women and non-binary technologists.
Male attendants at the Grace Hopper Celebration event have been accused of avoiding panel discussions featuring prominent women so that they could spend their time speaking to recruiters to secure jobs.
Cullen White, the chief impact officer at AnitaB.org, which organised the event, said that it was “clear” that more men attended the occasion than had been anticipated.
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He said: "Simply put, some of you lied when you registered."
“And as evidenced by the stacks and stacks of resumés you’re passing out, you did so because you thought you could come here and take space to try and get a job”.
White added that a number of men were taking advantage of resources, such as discounted academic tickets and interview slots, from “women who need them”.
In a speech posted online, he said: “Let me be perfectly clear, stop. Right now, stop.”
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Due to federal non-discrimination regulations in the US, men cannot be banned from attending the conference.
One female attendee, Lily Li, a product designer claimed that some of those had been “physically hurt” and pushed by some of the men who were running to the job booths.
"The problem is competition is not fair for everyone, that’s why a women’s conference exists to level the playing field because women are highly discriminated against in tech," she told The Telegraph.
The US National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics claims that in 2021 women made up just a third of those working in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) careers.
Due to federal non-discrimination regulations in the US, men cannot be banned from attending the conference
PAOne woman compared the situation to civilians attending a career fair for military veterans.
“If they had a career fair for military veterans, but civilians who have never served in the military crashed it, would you be okay with that?” she asked, in a comment cited by Li.
The conference were previously “joyous” and had “always felt safe and loving and embracing”, Bo Young Lee, the president of advisory at AnitaB.org , said in a LinkedIn post.
“And this year, I must admit, I didn’t feel this way.”