Humboldt University in Berlin rejects criticism after gender lecture was canceled
Protest against lecture at Long Night of Sciences
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Humboldt Uni rejects criticism after cancellation of gender lecture
A canceled biology lecture at the HU Berlin about dual gender caused a stir. Students had called for a protest against the lecture, the university feared for the safety of the Long Night of Science.
After the cancellation of a biology lecture on gender equality, the Humboldt University (HU) in Berlin defended itself against accusations that it would not respect academic freedom. Academic freedom is an extremely important asset for the university, HU press spokesman Boris Nitzsche told rbb on Sunday.
As part of the Long Night of Science, the biologist and doctoral student at the HU Marie Vollbrecht gave a lecture entitled “Gender is not the same as gender. Sex, gender and why there are only two genders in biology”. Students at the law faculty had accused Vollbrecht of transphobia and called for a protest in front of Humboldt University.
A counter-protest was also registered. The university then canceled the lecture on Saturday at short notice, citing safety concerns.
Vollbrecht rejects the accusation of “transphobic”.
According to Nitzsche, the university was unable to assess how the situation would develop. The HU did not want to endanger the Long Night of Science. However, with a view to the call for demonstrations, he added that it would not be helpful for scientific exchange “if you work with bans on speaking”.
Vollbrecht, who researches neurobiology and fish behavior, defended herself against the accusation of transphobia. Certain disciplines at the university have a very different understanding of what gender means, she told rbb on Sunday.
The biologist recently co-authored a controversial comment in the “wheal” [Bezahlinhalt] noticed. In it, public service broadcasting was due, among other things, to a Explanatory videos of the “Show with the Mouse” on the subject of transgender people [wdrmaus.de] accused of child indoctrination and an ideological approach.
Vollbrecht says that from a biological-scientific point of view there are only two sexes. Bisexuality is basic knowledge in biology. LGBTQ community activists accuse her of being anti-queer and anti-trans. “I don’t know what happened, that we’re so far apart that we can’t even be in the same room together and maybe we’re arguing that we have different definitions,” says Vollmer.
Broadcast: Abenschau, July 3rd, 2022, 7:30 p.m