diff --git a/src/db.rs b/src/db.rs
index e005905..86e1c6b 100644
--- a/src/db.rs
+++ b/src/db.rs
@@ -344,6 +344,30 @@ async fn load_user_gender(client: Arc<PgClient>, user_id: i32) -> Option<i32> {
         return Some(mapped);
     }
 
+    for query in [
+        "SELECT gender::text AS gender_text FROM community.\"user\" WHERE id = $1 LIMIT 1",
+        "SELECT sex::text AS gender_text FROM community.\"user\" WHERE id = $1 LIMIT 1",
+    ] {
+        match client.query_opt(query, &[&user_id]).await {
+            Ok(Some(row)) => {
+                let value: Option<String> = row.try_get("gender_text").ok();
+                if let Some(value) = value {
+                    if let Some(parsed) = normalize_gender_value(&value) {
+                        if room_debug_enabled() {
+                            eprintln!(
+                                "[yourchat2][room-debug][gender-load] source=community.user:text-column user_id={} raw='{}' mapped_id={}",
+                                user_id, value, parsed
+                            );
+                        }
+                        return Some(parsed);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            Ok(None) => {}
+            Err(_) => {}
+        }
+    }
+
     for query in [
         "SELECT gender_restriction_id AS gender_id FROM community.\"user\" WHERE id = $1 LIMIT 1",
         "SELECT gender_type_id AS gender_id FROM community.\"user\" WHERE id = $1 LIMIT 1",
@@ -354,6 +378,13 @@ async fn load_user_gender(client: Arc<PgClient>, user_id: i32) -> Option<i32> {
             Ok(Some(row)) => {
                 let value: Option<i32> = row.try_get("gender_id").ok();
                 if value.unwrap_or(0) > 0 {
+                    if room_debug_enabled() {
+                        eprintln!(
+                            "[yourchat2][room-debug][gender-load] source=community.user:id-column user_id={} mapped_id={}",
+                            user_id,
+                            value.unwrap_or_default()
+                        );
+                    }
                     return value;
                 }
             }
@@ -380,6 +411,12 @@ async fn load_user_gender(client: Arc<PgClient>, user_id: i32) -> Option<i32> {
             }
         }
     }
+    if room_debug_enabled() {
+        eprintln!(
+            "[yourchat2][room-debug][gender-load] source=all user_id={} result=none",
+            user_id
+        );
+    }
     None
 }
 
@@ -400,7 +437,10 @@ async fn load_user_gender_from_user_param(client: Arc<PgClient>, user_id: i32) -
                ON tpv_order.user_param_type_id = tp.id
               AND tpv_order.order_id::text = up.value
              WHERE up.user_id = $1
-               AND tp.description = 'gender'
+               AND tp.description IN ('gender', 'sex', 'geschlecht')
+               AND up.value IS NOT NULL
+               AND btrim(up.value) <> ''
+             ORDER BY up.updated_at DESC, up.id DESC
              LIMIT 1",
             &[&user_id],
         )
@@ -418,10 +458,22 @@ async fn load_user_gender_from_user_param(client: Arc<PgClient>, user_id: i32) -
     ] {
         if let Some(value) = candidate {
             if let Some(parsed) = normalize_gender_value(value) {
+                if room_debug_enabled() {
+                    eprintln!(
+                        "[yourchat2][room-debug][gender-load] source=community.user_param user_id={} raw_value={:?} mapped_by_id={:?} mapped_by_order={:?} candidate='{}' mapped_id={}",
+                        user_id, raw_value, mapped_by_id_value, mapped_by_order_value, value, parsed
+                    );
+                }
                 return Some(parsed);
             }
         }
     }
+    if room_debug_enabled() {
+        eprintln!(
+            "[yourchat2][room-debug][gender-load] source=community.user_param user_id={} raw_value={:?} mapped_by_id={:?} mapped_by_order={:?} result=none",
+            user_id, raw_value, mapped_by_id_value, mapped_by_order_value
+        );
+    }
     None
 }
 
@@ -573,6 +625,14 @@ fn normalize_gender_value(raw: &str) -> Option<i32> {
     if let Ok(id) = trimmed.parse::<i32>() {
         return (id > 0).then_some(id);
     }
+    let digits_only = trimmed.chars().filter(|c| c.is_ascii_digit()).collect::<String>();
+    if !digits_only.is_empty() {
+        if let Ok(id) = digits_only.parse::<i32>() {
+            if id > 0 {
+                return Some(id);
+            }
+        }
+    }
     let (male_id, female_id) = configured_gender_ids();
     match trimmed.to_lowercase().as_str() {
         "m" | "male" | "mann" | "männlich" | "maennlich" | "transmale" => Some(male_id),
@@ -594,3 +654,10 @@ fn configured_gender_ids() -> (i32, i32) {
         .unwrap_or(2);
     (male_id, female_id)
 }
+
+fn room_debug_enabled() -> bool {
+    matches!(
+        env::var("CHAT_DEBUG_ROOM_ACCESS").ok().as_deref(),
+        Some("1") | Some("true") | Some("TRUE") | Some("yes") | Some("YES") | Some("on") | Some("ON")
+    )
+}