National audience The gender issue is not a new issue for public policies. Many cities and regions have gender equality schemes in place. This issue was raised in France mainly by elected officials engaged in feminist groups, social or environmental struggles. In Quebec, it has been worn by feminist associations and, more recently, by elected members of this movement or who are aware of the cause. On the one hand and on the other hand, these actors faced a number of resistors and challenges before obtaining a certain degree of visibility of this dimension. The main objective of the article is to identify resistance to gender mainstreaming as a category of local action. The latter are often reinforced by a sexist discourse produced by decision-makers involving the issue of gender equality with ‘feminist commissioners’. This context questions political ‘ethics’ and the gender dimension of gender equality in the public care of gender equality at different levels of territory. The comparative analysis of the movement of activists in France (Grenoble) and Quebec (Gatineau) reveals the results of the production of sexist mechanisms in the construction of contemporary territories.