Queer Ancestor Spotlight: UpStairs Lounge Fire
The UpStairs Lounge was a gay bar located on the second floor of a three-story building located at 604 Iberville Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. On June 24, 1973 the bar was set on fire and thirty-two people died. It remained the deadliest attack on the LGBTQ+ community until the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016.
Exterior of 604 Iberville Street after the fire
The UpStairs Lounge was a frequent hangout spot for members of the local chapter of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), the first national gay Christian fellowship founded in Los Angeles in 1968. On the evening of Sunday, June 24, 1973, nearly 100 patrons remained at the bar following the 5:00-7:00pm “beer bust” special to discuss an upcoming MCC fundraiser. Around 8:00pm the downstairs buzzer sounded and Luther Boggs, one of the bar patrons, went to answer the door. He opened it to discover the front staircase engulfed in flames. The bartender, Buddy Rasmussen, quickly evacuated nearly two dozen patrons out the back exit to the roof where they could access a neighboring roof and climb down to the street.
Other patrons attempted to escape through the floor-to-ceiling windows, however these windows were covered by safety bars with only a 14-inch gap between the bars. Some people were able to squeeze through and drop down to the ground below, often while still burning. Luther Boggs was one of those who escaped through a window while on fire. He died sixteen days later from third degree burns over fifty percent of his body.
The bar burned for approximately 16 minutes before firefighters were able to arrive on scene. Even though the firehouse was only two blocks away they were blocked by pedestrians and traffic. During this time Reverend Bill Larson of the MCC attempted to escape by removing an air conditioning unit from the bottom of one of the windows, but was pinned by the glass as he crawled out. He was trapped half in, half out of the building as he burned to death, and his remains would be visible to onlookers for hours afterwards. George “Mitch” Mitchell, the assistant pastor of the MCC, was able to escape but returned to the bar to rescue his partner, Louis Horace Broussard. Even though same-sex marriage was not recognized at this time they had participated in a civil ceremony two years prior and considered themselves married. Their remains were found clinging to each other.
Twenty-eight people died during the fire, one person died on the way to the hospital, and three more died in the days following.
Following the fire many churches refused to hold funerals for the dead and several families did not claim the bodies of the deceased. There were three unknown victims following the fire and they were buried in a mass grave with another victim identified as Ferris LeBlanc at Holt Cemetery. LeBlanc’s family did not find out about his death in the arson attack until 2015. Reverend William P. Richardson of St. George’s Episcopal Church held a small prayer service the day after the fire, for which he was rebuked by the Episcopal bishop of New Orleans and received hate mail. On July 1 the MCC founder, Reverend Troy Perry, participated in a memorial service for the victims following which the mourners exited through the front of the church, a sign of the LGBTQ+ communities growing willingness to be public.
For the 25th anniversary of the fire a memorial service was organized by members of the Big Easy Metropolitan Community Church. It was attended by a variety of local faith leaders and Reverend Troy Perry, and thirty-two members of the New Orleans LGBTQ+ community stood in as representatives for the deceased. A jazz funeral processing lead the gathering to the former site of the bar where the MCC placed a memorial plaque.
Learn more about the UpStairs Lounge Fire here:
The Horror Upstairs - TIME
The View Upstairs - Invisible Wall Productions
UpStairs Lounge fire is remembered in a musical by composer Wayne Self - NOLA.com
UpStairs Lounge Fire Memorial, 40 Years Later - NOLA Defender
Arson at the UpStairs Lounge - WWNO 89.9 New Orleans Public Radio
Survivors Of Largest Gay Mass Murder In History Recall Tragedy On 41st Anniversary - Queerty
