Scholarly work engaging with women in parliaments continues to observe gender differences in the visibility and content of the legislative activities of men and women. To what extend can women in influential positions such as head of fraction, party leader, or president of parliament contribute to a more gender equal legislature? Certain positions in parliament are critical and allow actors to change and revise existing power dynamics. If women are critical actors promoting women’s advancement into politics, women’s presence in these positions should narrow gender difference in legislative behavior. In this study, I analyze time-series-cross-sectional data from German states to investigate whether gender differences in committee assignment and debate participation narrow when women occupy critical positions. The findings of this research have important implications for efforts to reach gender parity as well as for the functioning of parliamentary democracy more broadly.