Published in 1993 and now a classic of queer literature, Leslie Feinberg’s novel Stone Butch Blues celebrates its 30th anniversary of publication in 2023. The novel illustrated the complexities of lesbian and queer lives and contributed to a shift from talking about trans people as well as to the increased visibility of trans voices in society and academia. To mark the anniversary, we suggest the novel as a lens to look through into the past, present and future of trans and queer histories and studies, workers’ rights and anti-racist movements. The conference will include a reading followed by a conversation with poet, activist and Leslie Feinberg’s life partner Minnie Bruce Pratt.

The conference was held digitally on May 5 and 6, 2023.

Thank you to all speakers and participants for vibrant discussions and multiple perspectives.

A German-language report on the conference can be found here.

Find our Code of Conduct for the conference here (and here in German).

The English conference program can be found here (German pdf for download here) .

Find the abstracts here.

Organisation: Dr. Michaela Koch (Center for Gender & Diversity Hamburg), Dr. Jara Schmidt (Universität Hamburg / research network »Widerständige Praxen«) and Clara Rosa Schwarz (University of Freiburg) in cooperation with Spinnboden Lesbenarchiv und Bibliothek Berlin e.V. and Frauen*bildungszentrum DENKtRÄUME.