04/10/2026
On Thursday 1st of October, we were proud to bring the debate about gender identity into the parliamentary arena where it belongs.
A historic, packed-to-the-last-seat event took place in the Austrian Parliament: an open, factual, and critical discussion on gender identity. Our event was organized in collaboration with the ÖVP-Parlamentsklub and Campus Tivoli.
Our heartfelt thanks go to all participants, attendees, and especially our panellists. Particularly moving was the touching and harrowing account from the representative of the ROGD Austria parent group. She described her own experiences with school, social work, child and youth welfare services, and the family court in Vienna, which ultimately led to her losing sole custody of her minor daughter because she could not pretend that the girl was a boy.
We very much hope that this event will have an impact beyond Austria and that the voices previously sidelined in this debate will finally find a hearing at the political level.
Here is the remarkable video message from Family Minister Claudia Bauer in full:
“Dear ladies and gentlemen, this evening is attempting something that has become rare nowadays: namely, to speak about a topic where even simple questions are considered taboo. What’s it about?
Questions of gender and gender identity are clearly no longer fringe issues today. They touch on the protection of children and young people, they touch on women’s rights, and they touch on the freedom to speak openly and name truths. For me, three things apply here.
First: The dignity of every human being is not up for debate. Not with us. People who struggle with their gender and identity exist. They always have. But someone wrestling with their identity needs someone who listens and provides support. And they need someone who answers questions and asks questions. What they don’t need is someone who fuels that uncertainty even more and pushes them in a certain direction.
Second: Children and young people need special protection, especially in phases of uncertainty. Puberty is one such phase of uncertainty. It was for every one of us. What children and young people need then is time and guidance—from friends, from teachers, from parents. And yes, sometimes that can also be professional guidance. But that only works if parents are included and not bypassed. And if decisions are made, they must be based on scientific evidence, not on moods and certainly not on identity politics.
And third: We need a culture of debate that can handle this. Someone who asks questions is not automatically an opponent. Someone who demands rights is not automatically an ideologue. This applies especially where rights intersect, for example, women’s right to safe spaces—in sports, in school. Women have fought for and earned these safe spaces. We must be allowed to talk about them and defend them.
Some already see the questions being asked this evening as attacks. That is completely wrong. Respect is not agreement. Respect is not blind affirmation. And neither is disagreement contempt. Whoever cannot handle disagreement does not trust their own arguments.
And let me add one final point: More than half of young people no longer dare to openly address the topics that concern them. What does that say about our society, our democracy, our freedom of speech?
And in that spirit, I wish you an open, factual, and above all exciting discussion this evening.”
(Photo credit: Christian Högl)
