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Biologist Marie-Luise Vollbrecht during her lecture »Gender is not (gender) gender: sex, gender and why there are two genders in biology«
Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa
If the stage that Marie-Luise Vollbrecht gets from Berlin's Humboldt University is really an indicator of academic freedom in Germany, then she's not in bad shape.
There are hardly any seats left in the lecture hall on Thursday evening, television crews have set up cameras, and some listeners are standing in the doors.
Vollbrecht should have given her lecture "Gender is not (gender) gender - sex, gender and why there are two sexes in biology" almost two weeks ago.
But the Humboldt University canceled its appearance as part of the »Long Night of Science« at short notice.
Left-wing law students had announced protests against what they saw as Vollbrecht's anti-trans positions, and supporters of the biologist reported counter-demonstrations.
The HU finally justified its rejection with "security concerns" - and was criticized for it from all sides.
A catch-up date followed by a panel discussion should smooth things over again.
But is that still possible?
"Then I'll start the lecture that most of you already know anyway," Vollbrecht joins in, the audience laughs.
She has now written down her lecture for »Zeit« and held it in a live stream, the video has 120,000 clicks on YouTube.
What follows is reminiscent of a basic course in biology: Vollbrecht speaks of chromosomes and gametes, explains primary and secondary sexual characteristics, intra- and intersexual selection.
Basically, however, she is concerned with linguistic accuracy: In English, there is the word "sex" for biological sex and the term "gender" for social gender roles.
According to Vollbrecht, the two are often confused in German.
"There are only two biological sexes: male and female."
Again and again heckling from the upper rows
The performance is peaceful, there is applause from time to time, and from the upper rows a woman repeatedly calls out a resolute »Exactly!« in the direction of the stage.
Her name is Linda, she is 40 years old and works in the film industry.
She does not want to give her full name.
What bothers her most about the debate, Linda says, is the aggressiveness of the transgender activists.
"There used to be transsexuals, but they didn't tell everyone about it," she says.
“I don't want to be called a terf or a birthing creature.
I'm a woman, period.”
Terf
is short for “Trans Exclusive Radical Feminist.”
Linda no longer wants to attend the panel discussion on the subject of academic freedom, "too one-sided".
Marie-Luise Vollbrecht will not come either.
"My presentation was correct and doesn't need to be contextualized," she says.
This makes Gabriele Metzler angry.
"I think it's a scandal to give a scientific lecture and then not discuss it scientifically." Metzler is a historian and teaches at HU.
Even if she doesn't agree with Vollbrecht, she thinks it's right that her lecture was made up for.
"Just to refute the accusation that certain scientific positions should not be reported."
Who can speak and about what?
A few minutes' walk further, in front of Audimax 2, the "working group of critical lawyers" has gathered, the students are handing out yellow flyers with the inscription "No room for TIN* hostility at the HU".
They are the ones who announced the protests - and are said to have endangered the academic freedom of their university.
"We don't understand why the university portrayed us as violent and radical," says one of them, who introduces himself as Keanu.
He and his fellow students only made use of their freedom of expression.
"It's not about the lecture, it's about the person," says Keanu.
In the past, Vollbrecht had often made anti-trans statements.
Vollbrecht recently caused a stir as co-author of an article in the "Welt" entitled "How ARD and ZDF indoctrinate our children".
"We think it's a shame that she's given such a stage," says Keanu.
The podium is well staffed: Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) has joined in, the President of Humboldt University, Peter Frensch, is there, as well as scientists and activists.
Over the next three hours, all the big questions related to the incident are raised in the HU's main auditorium: What is science, what is opinion?
Who can speak and about what?
And: is there more than one gender?
The discussion is far from over
Peter Frensch announces that in future speakers at the Long Night of Science will be more closely selected based on their technical expertise.
Stark-Watzinger demands that the "great good of academic freedom" be preserved.
And Rüdiger Krake, Vollbrecht's doctoral supervisor at the Institute for Biology, concedes: What Vollbrecht reported there was "not current science, but things that are already known".
From the rows of seats come boos and malicious undertones, applause and contemptuous laughter.
At the end of the event, a man from the audience climbs onto the stage and is allowed to ask one more question: “What is transphobic about the statement that there are only two sexes?” he asks the group.
"The 'Welt' contribution was hostile to trans!" shouted someone from the room.
"Yes, but why don't you explain it?" the man replies.
Much remains to be discussed, even after this long evening.