Caspar Gutsche, author of the early lesbian protocols (1991) and companion of Erika Stürmer-Alex, reads from her debut novel ‘Ich tanze nun mal nicht gerne Standard’ (I just don’t like dancing standard) about her childhood and time at the Lietzen artists’ colony, which Stürmer-Alex created in 1982 as a free space in Brandenburg. The reading offers personal and literary insights into life as a lesbian woman in the GDR and dealing with social role models and ideological expectations. Maria Bühner will accompany the evening as a discussion partner. Maria Bühner researches lesbian life in the GDR and is committed to raising awareness of queer East German history.

Caspar Gutsche works as an author and has been active as a singer and songwriter for over thirty years. Her first novel “Ich tanze nun mal nicht gerne Standard” was published last autumn by Querverlag. To balance out her verbosity, she engages in both craft and design, ranging from interior design to shoemaking. Born and raised in East Berlin, she lives with her wife in Berlin-Zehlendorf.

Maria Bühner is a historian who graduated in cultural studies; she is a member of the research network queer contemporary history in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. She wrote her PhD thesis on the subjectivization of women who desired women and lesbian women in East Germany (1945–1995), and thus offered a new reading of East German history from a queer perspective. She has, among other things, worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Cultural Studies at Leipzig University and at Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden. She has published findings from her doctoral project in the journal Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte (2025, no. 21) and in an expert report for the Berlin Senate (2024). In her freelance and volunteer work, she actively champions greater visibility for queer East German history.