In Lyon, «gender-neutral» bike lanes. I beg your pardon?

An ecologist elected in Lyon is promising «gender-neutral» bike paths. He explains this by arguing that women, in particular, need more safety than men. The umpteenth autogoal in the match between the «woke» team and the allegedly macho team.

On Twitter, environmentalist Fabien Bagnon, vice president of the Lyon metropolitan area and head of roads and mobility, posted a photo of the metropolitan area’s major cycling project, «Voies lyonnaises.» In response to a Twitter user who pointed out that bike lanes should take gender equality into account, Fabien Bagnon agreed; the politician apologized for not having mentioned it and added: «In fact, it’s the women’s cycling community Beyondmybike that is participating in technical meetings with the Voies lyonnaises teams to design gender-neutral—and therefore inclusive—bike lanes.»

What would gender-equitable bike lanes look like? «We’re trying to identify what might discourage one gender from using them,» explains a member of the Metropolitan Council in a tweet. «Is it a problem with nighttime lighting? Is the path monopolized by predominantly male sports activities?» he asks. It’s worth noting that the elected official answers a question with more questions. In other words, he himself doesn’t know what gender-neutral bike lanes might actually look like—but he’s pleased that they’re being built.

An ideology that turns against itself

The very nature of these questions reaches a mind-boggling level of stupidity. If a problem with night-time lighting were indeed gender-discriminatory, it would mean that men, in this case, are less disadvantaged than women when it comes to finding their way around without much light. Translation: women need help, they really are pives. These words from the local authority, reported by Le Figaro, are no different:

«The local authority will create 250 kilometers of safe cycle paths, separated from the rest of the traffic. So that everyone will be able to use them in complete safety. Men and women alike.»

Once again, so-called «inclusivism» reveals itself to be paternalistic, patriarchal, macho, sexist, fixist, authoritarian and identitarian. The fact that this ideology resides at the heart of power in France's third largest city is hardly reassuring for the future. When will men be banned from bike lanes so that other «communities» don't feel oppressed by so much sporting talent?

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