The biology PhD student Marie-Luise Vollbrecht was actually supposed to give a lecture on gender and biology at the Humboldt University yesterday.

It didn't come to that.

The “working group of critical lawyers” had demanded the cancellation of the lecture because of allegedly transphobic statements by Vollbrecht.

The university caved in and canceled the event over "security concerns."

The word shows what militancy is expected of the "critical lawyers" and their fellow campaigners.

At Humboldt-Universität it is a tradition to withdraw solidarity from scientists in such situations.

Think of the hunts against Herfried Münkler and Jörg Baberowski.

The university says that the debate over Vollbrecht's lecture threatened to overshadow all other topics of the "Long Night of Science".

What is the core of the allegations?

Marie-Luise Vollbrecht is one of the authors of a guest article in "Welt", which uses documented examples to criticize the one-sided reporting by public broadcasters on the trans issue.

The article caused a stir because Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner later distanced himself from the text that had appeared in his own organ, which he described as "underground" and "scientifically, at best, roughly one-sided".

The adolescent psychiatrist and co-author Alexander Korte then enlightened Döpfner in the “Welt” about the state of the art and explained why he had wrongly denigrated him.

Confessions instead of arguments

The petition of the "critical lawyers" does not justify the accusation of transphobia.

Vollbrecht is accused of negating the existence of intersexuals by speaking of biological dual sex.

Vollbrecht's lecture explains why dual gender is a necessary designation for biology.

The basis is the distinction between egg and sperm cell.

There is no other biological explanation for the existence of the human race.

"Dual gender does not rule out the possibility that there are people whose gender structures are not fully differentiated and are therefore not clear," writes Alexander Korte in his "Welt" article on intersexuality.

The fact that critical lawyers do not see themselves in a position to counter this point of view with arguments testifies to the tendency

Making identity and gender issues a quasi-religious creed.

For transsexuals, who must endure lifelong medical treatment to conform to their desired gender, there is questionable benefit in ignoring the physical dimension of the transition.

It is not the first lecture on the trans subject that has fallen victim to personal hostilities at a German university.

The British philosopher Kathleen Stock was dismissed from the Center for General Linguistics in Berlin in 2021 for alleged transphobia.

The transsexual publicist Till Randolf Amelung received a subsequent rejection in the same year from the Asta of the University of Vechta.

The feminist publicist Naida Pintul had to accept a series of disinvitations.

"Kill a terf," an acronym for "Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist," is a common slogan in this context.

Under the guise of philanthropy, those who maintain that biological factors play a role in sex determination are labeled fair game to be beaten or killed.

For Vollbrecht, the hostilities are not trivial.

The accusation of trans and misanthropy damages their reputation and jeopardizes their careers.

It is a dangerous tendency for science when entire disciplines are placed under suspicion.

For those affected, it has the consequence of being unilaterally informed about the consequences of a transition.

The university wants to find an alternative date.

But the offer is poisoned, because at the same time she distances herself without justification from Vollbrecht's opinions expressed in the "Welt" article and only wants to let them speak together with representatives of the trans groups and the student parliament.

Marie-Luise Vollbrecht is once again under suspicion – and under surveillance.

She gave her lecture on YouTube on Sunday, in a friendly tone, consistent in substance.