[cantloginwithg]

Oh, come on now. It's explicitly unfair. Some people in the community feel that there is a chicken and egg problem of having too few women programmers and that it is a bad thing. So HS is purposefully giving a hand up to the female programmers in order to ameliorate the issue. They don't have to be fair here when their goal is long term equality in the future.

Also, should they care if it's legal? How is being unfair in pursuit of a greater good definitely a bad thing? And I presume trans applicants could pitch to be covered as women as they either are or were at one time women, though I expect the most understanding way to treat trans people is as the sex they have changed to and identify with. Same with intersex. So it appears you're using an ugly rhetorical game to cast negative light without saying much at all. It's possible that HS has had no trans or intersex people at their gatherings so it's a moot point anyway.

In short. Fairness need not be ones highest ideal. There are reasons why fairness may need to be traded off for other benefits or fairness over another term. And sorry for my tone. This sort worried impracticality frustrates me. I would have just down-voted and flagged your comment had I been able to log into my own account.