"Promoting the gap only widens it."

Umm, isn't it just pointing out the obvious rather than promoting anything?

Gender separate events are nothing to get your knickers in a twist about (not that I am suggesting you wear knickers ;-) people gather together in all manner of social and professional groups. Most of us are members of more than one tribe and I don't think that a group of women getting together to paint their toenails (or discuss coding as the case may be) implies that we are all going to secede and form "the pretty geek girl nation" a la Tuhoe.

All that said, I wish you well in attaining balance in your community and that event sounded very interesting.