Though The Grace Hopper Celebration may have been created for women and non-binary people in tech, a group of men decided to shoehorn themselves into the fun, hitting the conference to duke it out with the event’s intended audience for some ever-valuable time with recruiters.


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Much to the chagrin of attendees looking to bond with quite literally anyone that is not a cisgender man in the largely male-dominated industry, the event, which took place last week in Orlando, Florida, quickly devolved into a gathering of the duebros, with several opportunistic “allies” clogging lines, walkways and the space as a whole.



“Shocking to see how many men showed up to a women in tech career conference claiming ‘non-binary’ on their GHC registration status, shoving, bullying and bribing the women there,” Generation She founder Avni Barman wrote on Twitter.



“Ghc: A conference for (wo)men by women,” fashion creator @ayesha_nabiha captioned a clip of several men wandering the event, while @cosmicnaut shared a similar video detailing their “Grace Hopper experience” alongside “their fave allies.”


https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPR7UXwAy/


As these complaints and several others began amassing online, AnitaB, the nonprofit behind the annual event, headed to social media to acknowledge the invasion of the techbros, revealing that there was, in fact, “an increase in participation of self-identifying males” at this year’s event.


“In the past it has always felt safe and loving and embracing and this year, I must admit I didn’t feel this way, and I know that many of you felt the same,” Founder Bo Young Lee explained in a video shared to AnitaB’s LinkedIn page shortly after the conference came to a close.


“I do the work I do to create a world where my two girls can thrive,” she continued. “We tried to create a safe space, and this week we saw the outside world creep in.”


Though the event cannot ban men from attending due to federal nondiscrimination laws, Lee reiterated that she was working with her team to find solutions going forward, reiterating that the event’s mission is “to uplift and celebrate women and nonbinary technologists.”


So take it from the male bozos using a women’s conference to get a leg up: Knowing how to code doesn’t make you smart.