How should a women's meeting handle it if a guy wants to come in

Hi,
We're trying to sustain a women's meeting in our district, but are having trouble keeping the guys out.  This is an online meeting .....
1) someone is completely new to the site and comes in (possibly by accident)
2) some guys come in by mistake, and realize it and go away
3) some guys come in declaring we can't keep them out

The women don't know if boundaries can be set that just don't allow men in, or if an addict wants a meeting, they have to be let in.

Any advice or experiences from land men's or women's meetings how they handle this?  

Thank you so much,
Susie K
Madison WI  

Thanks for your response, lou!
I think that's the question, is an MA meeting able to have a prerequisite other than the 3rd tradition for joining?
Honestly I have been going to women's meetings for years and years without any question about it, but this particular meeting is wondering.  In my view it's a meeting issue, as long as it doesn't impact other meetings.

Hey and here's the info for our site     www.ma-online.org     The women's meeting is Sunday at 12:00 pacific, 3:00 eastern.  Women welcome!   There are two meetings every other day as well, except for Saturday.   Everyone welcome! 

Enjoy the convention everyone!   Wish I could come this year. 

Susie K.
Madison, WI 

Since it's an online meeting, it wouldn't surprise me if some of the women were actually men.

Gender-specific meetings are not unusual and do not conflict with the traditions.

Groups make decisions based on group conscience. Since our primary purpose is to carry the message to marijuana addicts who still suffer (Tradition Five), it may be that the group could decide to allow a wayward addict to stay rather than sending him away. Alternately, one or more of the members might decide to take the individual aside (private chat?) and allow the group to continue as normal. I'm sure that there are other good ways to deal with this foreseeable circumstance and it might be a good idea for members, as a group, to discuss the situation ahead of time.

Good job collecting ideas!

Oh, yah, keith, suddenly we have roberta and michaelia, and bobarina dropping in!  No kidding!
Susie  

I skype with Keith and was wondering why he had a wig on last we spoke

During the meeting after the meeting yesterday, one of the long-timers remarked that a GLBT meeting could not be restricted. I asked why he thought there was a difference versus gender-specific meetings. He said that gender was different because one can "tell the difference." I didn't pursue the discussion (and disagree with the thought process), but I wonder how he does it. Maybe it's because I live in Los Angeles, but even when I'm sure, there's still some doubt.

On the Internet one can never be sure.

Back to the online meeting...regardless of what the group's leaders may think - they do not govern - if the group conscience is to help the male who stumbles into the ladies "room," I would applaud the decision.

Hi, everyone, thanks for the replies!
The group did decide unanimously that this is Women Only, and that men will be asked to leave (politely, tactfully, and privately) if they come in.  Most of the guys come in accidentally, a few come in to be pests, honestly, they want to argue about it.  There are concurrent activities in ma-online for a man (or anyone) to get immediate help and discuss sobriety.
Thanks for all your feedback, and again, everyone is welcome to drop in to  www.ma-online.org for a meeting or chat.
Susie K
Madison, WI     

You are absolutely allowed to have a women's only group. Perhaps the current chat site is not set up to allow for a pre-screening, but there are other sites that you may find some more privacy. Perhaps you don't post the meeting time any longer, but have interested attendees contact you before attending a meeting. I have seen this in other programs. You can also have a phone meeting with a free calling service and pre-screen members before they get the meeting phone number. No way you can mistake a man trying to pretend to be a woman, except if they are undergoing gender reassignment and taking hormones...then I would say let the person in if they personally identify as a woman.

Hi, everyone, thank you so much for your comments,
Just for your interest --
MA-ONLINE District 13 is set up with a meeting room and a lobby, which is sthe format we work witihin.

We did vote unanimously that it would be and stay a women's meeting, and discussed some protocols.  Our meetings have a host (similar to secretary), a co-host, and an elected  GSR who has extra technical privlleges including booting a person out (for trolls and interent safety usually.)
The host repeats that it's a women's meeting along with the topics between shares,
The co host greets all who come in late in a private message (and we often know the guys anyway)
The GSR can boot someone out if need be.
This is an honest program, we expect the guys to be honest, our meeting is listed with all our other meetings.

It has worked out fine now, with your comments clarifying the traditions as well as the the women learnning more about  group conscience.

All women welcome,  Sundays 3 pm eastern, noon pacific, at www.ma-online.org  -- THANK YOU EVERYONE.   Susie K 

We did vote unanimously that it would be and stay a women's meeting, and discussed some protocols.

Todd G. Reno

O yes the Group Conscience :-)) The 12 traditions brings to mind the Group Conscience. In the early days of recovery I would attend 3 - 4 meeting a day and each Group Conscience was different.  I guess that reflects on "One Day at a time "  and one group at a time. I guess in MA's case it would be a Group of Pot Heads :-)) My Conscience has changed one day at a time over the last 16 years in the 12 step meetings across the USA not eluding 2 yrs ago when I was participation in the CA world wide internet meetings. then the group conscience was a group from all over the world at the same meeting but everybody was in the meeting for the same reason to get rid of an addiction problem that made their life