Above the entrance to courtroom 100 hangs a relief depicting Adam and Eve at the tree of knowledge. As for their clothing, there is no difference between the sexes – both are naked from head to toe. In reality, it’s not as easy as it is in paradise, and it shows in the hall. There sits Gabrielle Lebreton, who sunbathed on the Berlin water playground “Plansche” in June 2021. Shirtless like the men around her. But only she was asked by the site’s security service to put something on. When she refused, the police came and the woman had to leave the playground.
The 38-year-old architect felt discriminated against by the behavior of the security people and sued the state of Berlin, on whose behalf the men from the security service were traveling. She demands 10,000 euros in compensation, on Wednesday the Berlin district court negotiated it.
The case made headlines beyond the capital. And not just because the “Busenzoff”, as a Berlin newspaper called it, is the perfect topic for tabloid media. But also because it’s about something fundamental, the question of whether women are still told what to wear. It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. In 2019, women who were on the Isar in Munich without a bikini top were rudely attacked by security guards. This spring in Göttingen, a person who does not identify as a woman was banned from entering an open-air pool for topless bathing.
First practical test for the new anti-discrimination law
In addition, in Berlin this is the first case to be dealt with under the new State Anti-Discrimination Act (LADG). This was enacted in 2020 to make it easier for citizens to take action against the state of Berlin if they feel disadvantaged by its authorities because of their gender, religion, origin or sexual orientation. The topless story must now show in practice what the law is good for.
The question before the court is whether discrimination actually took place. Leonie Thum, the lawyer for the plaintiff Lebreton, clearly sees it that way. There is “unequal treatment because of gender, because men were not asked to cover their upper bodies”. In addition, the incident was extremely uncomfortable for Gabrielle Lebreton. She sat peacefully on the lawn by the water playground until security guards and later the police asked her to leave – and all of that in front of her little son. For this reason and because a sanction must be painful, she has set the amount she is demanding from the state of Berlin at 10,000 euros.
Eike-Heinrich Duhme, who represents the state of Berlin, admits that the situation for the sunbathing Lebreton was “regrettable”. But he does not see a case of discrimination. On the one hand, the security guards were only responsible for monitoring the corona measures, the state of Berlin cannot be held responsible for anything else. On the other hand, the splash pad is a place for children and there have been complaints about the bare chest. And people who felt disturbed by Lebreton in their sense of shame, for example, also had rights.
Complaint is dismissed
It goes back and forth for a while, the difference between female and male breasts is debated, and how the rules for using the water playground should be understood. She had asked visitors to wear “commercial bathing suits such as swimming trunks, swimming shorts, bikinis, bathing suits or burkinis”. The judge then closes the session and dismisses the lawsuit in the first instance. The exact reasons for the verdict were not yet known on Wednesday; as is usual in civil courts, they will only be presented in writing later.
Gabrielle Lebreton herself does not want to comment this morning. She says only briefly that she will continue to fight against discrimination. But there was one consequence of the matter: The water playground has changed its user regulations. In the future, only the primary sexual organs should be covered, but not the breasts and upper body. Almost like Adam and Eve in paradise.