UpStairs Lounge arson attack
[4] The primary suspect, a gay man with a history of psychiatric impairment named Roger Dale Nunez who had been ejected from the bar earlier in the day, was never charged and died by suicide in November 1974.The MCC was the United States' first national gay Christian fellowship, founded in Los Angeles in 1968; the local congregation had held services in the UpStairs Lounge's theatre for a while.[11][12] On June 24, 1973, the regular "beer bust" drink special attracted its usual blue-collar gay crowd to the UpStairs Lounge.After the drink special ended, about 60-90 patrons remained; they listened to pianist George Steven “Bud” Matyi perform and discussed an upcoming MCC fundraiser for the local Crippled Children's Hospital.[14][15] At 7:56PM, a buzzer from downstairs sounded, and bartender Buddy Rasmussen, an Air Force veteran, asked Luther Boggs to answer the door, anticipating a taxi cab driver.A few anonymous individuals stepped forward and paid for the three unknown men's burials, and they were buried with another victim identified as Ferris LeBlanc in a mass grave at Holt Cemetery.[24] In 2018, Robert L. Camina, director of the UpStairs Inferno documentary, announced in The Advocate that, after extensive research, one of the three unknown victims could finally be identified as 32-year-old Larry Norman Frost.[9] This announcement and its underlying research received a negative peer review in The Advocate from fellow UpStairs Lounge scholars Clayton Delery and Robert Fieseler.These scholars pointed to a lack of forensic evidence, the omission of historic materials contradicting Camina’s case and the absence of comment from the coroner as reason for Frost to remain “a possible Up Stairs Lounge victim or even a probable one with an asterisk.” [25] In June 1998, the 25th anniversary of the fire, as part of Gay Pride celebrations, a memorial service was organized by Rev.Carter then led a jazz funeral procession to the building on the corner of Chartres and Iberville Streets, the site of the club, and members of the local MCC laid a memorial plaque and wreaths at the grave."[32] Coverage of the fire by news outlets minimized the fact that LGBT patrons constituted the majority of the victims, while editorials and talk radio hosts made light of the event.After returning from a trip in Europe, New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu held a routine press conference on July 11, 1973, where a gay reporter questioned him about the “homosexual angle” to the tragedy affecting community response.Landrieu stated that he was “not aware of any lack of concern in the community.” New Orleans Archbishop Philip Hannan, silent for weeks, offered brief remarks at the end of a column about human rights in the archdiocesan newspaper The Clarion Herald in mid-July 1973.[34][35][36] In 2015, Upstairs Inferno, a feature-length documentary written, directed, and produced by Robert L. Camina, had its World Premiere in New Orleans at the historic Prytania Theatre.[39] In 2018, the national ABC News investigative unit released a documentary entitled Prejudice & Pride: Fire at the UpStairs Lounge.
violence against LGBT people in the United StatesNew OrleansCoordinatesmass murderandrocidegay barLouisianaOrlando nightclub shootingMetropolitan Community ChurchLos AngelesNashville, TennesseeIveson B. NolandUnitarianUnited Methodist ChurchFinis CrutchfieldTroy PerryHolt CemeteryThe AdvocateGay Pridejazz funeralconversion hysteriaFrench QuarterWalgreensBig Easy Metropolitan Community ChurchHurricane GustavNew Orleans Museum of ArtArchbishop of New OrleansGregory Michael AymondPhilip HannanRoyd AndersonUpstairs InfernoPrytania TheatreChristopher RiceAnne RiceLibrary of CongressGhost HuntersNatchitoches, LouisianaThe View UpstairsMcFarland & CompanyThe New York TimesOverlookedCasey McQuistonColorado Springs nightclub shootingKilling of Fernando RiosWayback MachineJon C. HinsonStudy Club fireRhythm Club fireCocoanut Grove fireKarlslust dance hall fireTop Storey Club fireClub Cinq-Sept firePlay Town Club fireSummerland disasterBeverly Hills Supper Club fireStardust fireAlcalá 20 nightclub fireKheyvis fireOzone Disco fireLuoyang Christmas fireVolendam New Year's fireCanecão Mineiro nightclub fireUtopía nightclub fireThe Station nightclub fireRepública Cromañón nightclub fireWuwang Club fireSantika Club fireLame Horse fireKiss nightclub fireNew Taipei water park fireColectiv nightclub fireGhost Ship warehouse fireYaoundé nightclub fireMountain B nightclub fireBinh Duong karaoke bar fireKostroma café firePoipet casino hotel fireFonda Milagros nightclub fireGayrettepe nightclub fireCrowd crushesThrob nightclub disasterE2 nightclub crushEl Paraíso stampedeCorinaldo stampedeLos Olivos stampedeBlue Bird Café fireWhiskey Au Go Go fireGulliver's nightclub fireGargantua bar attackPuerto Rican Social Club fireDenmark Place fireDroppin Well bombingDallas nightclub shootingWest Berlin discotheque bombingHappy Land fireOtherside Lounge bombingGothenburg discothèque firePanda Bar massacreDolphinarium discotheque massacreMyojo 56 building fireBali bombingsColumbus nightclub shootingStage Club bombingArua nightclub shootingLondon car bombsTel Aviv nightclub attackCairo restaurant fireIstanbul nightclub shootingLittle Rock nightclub shootingThousand Oaks shootingSalamanca nightclub shootingCoatzacoalcos nightclub fireOslo shootingsPickwick Club collapseEnyobeni Tavern disasterDeadliest terrorist attacks in the United StatesSeptember 11 attacks2,977 deathsOklahoma City bombingMountain Meadows MassacreTulsa race massacrePulse nightclub shootingBath School disasterWall Street bombingEl Paso Walmart shootingWilmington insurrection