We have a Women & Queer night, once a month. Right now, we're looking at how/if we can expand this/split it into two different nights (with both still being trans-friendly).
In terms of negative comments, we try to head them off at the pass in our event promotion by including wording like this: "If you don't self-identify as female and/or LGBTQ, feel free to invite one of your friends who does! And join us at our weekly P&Y night on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. if you'd like to get involved in another of our programs."
When someone comes in the shop who reads like a cis-het man (for lack of a better way of phrasing that), I welcome them to Women & Queer night and say that they're welcome to stay if they identify as a woman and/or queer, but if they don't, we ask that they come back to the space another time (giving both shop time options & volunteer programming options). This generally works fairly well; sometimes we have to be a bit more assertive.
On Fri, Oct 17, 2014 at 2:23 PM, Christopher Chan <chris.chan@edmontonbikes.ca> wrote:
>
> You're welcome to use text from our page:
>
> http://edmontonbikes.ca/women
>
> We are updating the name (women & trans) to include femme for ours, and we will likely also introduce a separate queer time as well.
>
> Christopher Chan
> Executive Director
> Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society
>
> edmontonbikes.ca
>
> BikeWorks North • 9305 111 Ave • T5G 0A2 • 780-757-9100
> BikeWorks South • 8001 102 St • T6E 4A2 • 780-433-2453
> Cell • 780-756-7560
>
> On 17 Oct 2014 11:43, "Leslie Peteya" <lesliepeteya@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> We have both a women's night and a trans/queer night. Mainly, because we can serve the 2 different populations better.
>>
>> Our collective has had several intense discussions around why we need such nights. I explain the bro-chisimo environment of
>> fixing bikes, the masculine energy, some men's tendency to jump and offer to 'help', discomfort felt by queer/trans populations in
>> interacting with homophobic patrons, women's historic acculturation to be accommodating and not speak up, as and maybe I just want to hang out with my fellow women and share cupcakes, as all reasons for having these nights.
>>
>> Best,
>> Leslie
>> Durham Bike Co-op
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 17, 2014 at 1:23 PM, Judith Feist <judith.feist@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Good Afternoon all,
>>>
>>> I was just wondering what shops out there have specific shop nights dedicated to a specific group of individuals...Do you have literature you hand out to folks who ask questions about this specific shop night? How do you run it? I would like to host an evening where folks who identify as women/trans are able to come work on/learn about bike maintenance/safety in a welcoming environment...
>>>
>>> Any info is helpful. Especially concerning how you respond to negative comments pertaining to such evenings...
>>>
>>> I hope everyone is well and thank you, in advance, for any information. It's greatly appreciated.
>>>
>>> --
>>> judith caroline feist
>>>
>>> "i don' think my art is political. i think it's about the stuff that doesn't let me sleep at night." -felix gonzalez-torres
>>>
>>> I think [the bicycle] has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world...It gives a woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance.~Susan B. Anthony
>>>
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>>
>>
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