Transgender Lecture Triggers Row at German University

A planned lecture by a professor of developmental psychology titled The Development of Transgender Identity has sparked a dispute at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, with student groups calling for her dismissal, according to the daily newspaper Welt.

Student organizations, including local socialist, social democratic and Christian democratic groups, have condemned the lecture as discriminatory and scientifically inaccurate, saying it questions the existence of transgender identities.

Protesters are calling for the professor to be dismissed, barred from campus and investigated over the scientific validity of her statements. They have also organized a demonstration to coincide with the lecture.

The Network for Freedom of Science has come to the professor's defense, criticizing attempts to restrict academic debate and urging the university to firmly uphold the freedom of scientific research.

(mja)