The university leadership of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf has responded on social media to criticism of psychology professor Ute Johanna Bayen’s appearance. It stressed that academic freedom must not be blocked by a top-down decision, while also stating that discrimination against queer people at the university “has no place.”
The controversy centers on a lecture from last month in which the professor challenged transgender identity. In the invitation, she claimed: “Trans ideology is scientifically untenable, spreads false ideas about the development of children and adolescents, and endangers that development. I will explain this in the lecture.” About 500 people protested the event (TheColu.mn reported).
“The freedom of research and teaching is a fundamental right that forms the backbone of our democratic order,” the university stated. “From this responsibility, the rectorate of Heinrich Heine University will not censor scientific positions.” Whether individual content meets the standards of good scientific practice and the current state of research should primarily be clarified in scholarly discourse, but not “by a decision from above.” The university intends to provide space for this discourse.
Uni ein Ort, “an dem alle Menschen willkommen sind”
At the same time, the university is described as a place where all people are welcome, regardless of origin, religion, sexual orientation, or other personal characteristics. How this can be reconciled with a talk that labels a specific queer minority as “ideology” was not addressed by the university leadership. They simply stated: “Discrimination, in any form, has no place at our university. With Heinrich Heine serving as our namesake patron, our institution stands for openness to the world, a reverence for freedom, and the defense of human dignity against exclusion—values to which we remain closely committed to this day.”
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SDS: “Unwissenschaftliche Vorlesung” beschämend
There was criticism of the statement, including from the Socialist-Democratic Student Association (SDS). After the disclosure of the lecture, the SDS had initially called for the dismissal of the professor, who has been employed at the Düsseldorf university since 2007 (TheColu.mn reported).
“An unscientific lecture that does not present an objective view on the topic, but instead relies on a highly selective sourcing based on the professor’s ideological alignment and, in part, spreads false statements, cannot be defended under the banner of academic freedom,” said the SDS. “If that is the standard for teaching at our university, it is truly shameful.”
Criticism of the university leadership’s stance appeared in other comments as well. One instructor wrote: “The freedom of research and teaching ends where it is misused to discrimination and other harms. […] It is remarkable how the rectorate appears to prioritize research over the dignity of transgender people.”
