Introduction of "TINFA-Monday" Bern bouldering hall closes area for cis-men

Part of the Bimano bouldering hall in Bern remains closed to cis men on Monday evenings. The measure is intended to prevent possible discrimination.

At the beginning of September, the Bimano bouldering hall in Bern introduced the so-called "TINFA Monday". In other words: on Mondays, the rear area of the hall is closed to all cis men between 5 and 10 pm.

According to a notice, this is in response to the "many requests and feedback from the community". Cis men are still welcome - but only in the front section.

As a reminder: cis men are men who were assigned the male gender at birth and identify as such. TINFA (also known as FLINTA) is an abbreviation and stands for Trans, Inter, Nonbinary, Women, Agender.

According to the organizers, the new offer has met with a great response: "Positive voices say that they find it pleasant not to be exposed to the 'male gaze' for once," writes Bimano at the request of "20 Minuten". Some are now more confident to go bouldering in the TINFA hall and try out more difficult boulders than on the other evenings.

Offer limited to three months

However, there have also been critical voices who no longer feel welcome due to the offer. Some have expressed concern that there are people who feel more comfortable in rooms without cis men.

As in society as a whole, there are also structural incidents in the bouldering hall from time to time that make people feel uncomfortable. The Bimano team cites mansplaining, cat-calling and "other unpleasant situations" as examples. The new measure is intended to make the hall and bouldering more accessible.

The offer is initially limited to three months, after which it will be evaluated whether and in what form it will be continued in the future.