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BS: UpStairs Lounge arson attack 24-Jun-1973
| Jim Dixon | 25 Jun 13 - 08:18 PM | |
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BS: UpStairs Lounge arson attack 24-Jun-1973
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Subject: BS: Upstairs Lounge arson attack 24-Jun-1973 From: Jim Dixon Date: 25 Jun 13 - 08:18 PM Sorry if this is going to be just another one of those "ain't it awful" posts. I really don't know what else to say. It's a historical event of the kind that tends to get left out of the history books. I just learned about this sad event, the worst atrocity ever committed against gay people in the history of the US. Forty years ago, on June 24, 1973, an arsonist set fire to a gay bar in New Orleans while it was full of people. 32 people died. No one was ever prosecuted. It was called the UpStairs Lounge, on the second floor of a 3-story building on the corner of Iberville and Chartres Streets in the French Quarter. The building still stands, without any historical designation, as far as I can see. Adding insult to injury, the day after the fire, radio talk-show hosts made anti-gay jokes. I can't bear to repeat what they said. City officials said nothing. Some churches, afraid of being identified with a gay cause, refused to hold memorial services for the victims. One minister who did hold a memorial service was reprimanded by his bishop, and received many complaints from his parishioners and hate mail from the public. Some of the bodies were never identified or claimed. You can read a Wikipedia article here: UpStairs Lounge arson attack The blog article from which I first learned of it: Remembering the UpStairs Lounge From there, you can link to more... |
