New Orleans’ LGBTIQA+ community marked the 50th anniversary of the tragic fire at the The Upstairs Bar over the weekend.
The 1973 fire which claimed the lives of thirty-two people was the deadliest attack on the LGBT communities in the USA until the deadly shooting at The Pulse nightclub in 2016 which saw 49 people murdered.
On the evening of Sunday June 24th 1973 a fire broke out at the stairway entrance to The Upstairs Bar, a second-floor gay bar in New Orleans busy French Quarter.
The bar was frequented by blue-collar members of the gay and lesbian community and was popular with members of Metropolitan Community Church, a LGBT friendly church who held their Sunday evening services in the building.
The bar had been packed with up to 110 people earlier in the evening but by 8pm there were around 60-90 people remaining. When staff opened the door to the venue responding to a buzzer that people would press to gain entry, they found the stair well alight and the strong smell of lighter fluid.
The flames quickly filled the bar and people rushed to escape, barman Buddy Rasmussen who was an air force veteran, was able to lead 20 people through a secret door onto a neighbouring building. Many people tried to escape through the building’s windows but bars across the windows only left a tiny space for people to squeeze through.
Officially no cause for the fire was established, and the only suspect in the case was a man named Roger Nunez who had been ejected from the venue earlier in the evening. He had a history of mental health challenges and died by suicide the following year.
News reports at the time didn’t highlight that the venue was predominantly filled with gay patrons, and talkback radio hosts reportedly made light of the situation. Leading politician and religious figures did not make significant statements about the event.
Many churches refused to bury the victims, and families refused to collect the bodies of some of the victims. Two of the people who died in the fire have never been formally identified.
In 2013 on the 40th anniversary of the fire the Archbishop of New Orleans offered an apology. Writing in TIME magazine Archbishop Phulip Hannan said “In retrospect, if we did not release a statement we should have to be in solidarity with the victims and their families … The church does not condone violence and hatred. If we did not extend our care and condolences, I deeply apologise.”
Over the weekend New Orleans queer community marked the anniversary with church services, screenings of documentaries that have been about the tragedy, and book readings.
A new podcast The Fire Upstairs also offers a fresh perspective on the historical event, noting that many younger community members are unaware of what occurred, and highlight that five decades later there are still many challenges for LGBTIQA+ people.
OIP Staff, image: Deisenbe captured the building where the bar was housed on the second floor, photo taken in 2019, published via a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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