The stories that appeared included quotes from local citizens that can only be described as ignorant, such as a cab driver who said “I hoped the fire burned their dresses off,” and one woman who opined that “the Lord … cooked them.” Local talk radio hosts were making jokes such as, “What do they bury the ashes of queers in?” The answer: “Fruit jars.” News coverage, both print and television, made every effort to omit the fact that the fire had anything to do with homosexuals in the community, even though a gay bar and members of a gay church congregation had been involved. The detectives wouldn’t even acknowledge that it was an arson case, saying the cause of the fire was of “undetermined origin.” There were no City Hall press conferences or statements of condolence from the governor, and no civil authorities publicly spoke out about the fire, other than to mumble about needed improvements to the city’s fire code.
Thirty-two people lost their lives that Sunday 45 years ago - Luther Boggs, Inez Warren, and Warren’s sons among them.Ī police officer at the time dismissed the French Quarter lounge as a place where “thieves” and “queers” hung out and their was little interest in solving the case. Both died in the fire, their bodies clinging together in death, like a scene from the aftermath of Pompeii. MCC assistant pastor George “Mitch” Mitchell escaped, but soon returned to try to rescue his boyfriend, Louis Broussard. When police and firefighters surveyed and began clearing the scene, they left Larson fused to the window frame until the next morning. Reverend Bill Larson of the MCC clung to the bars of one window until he died. Metal bars on the UpStairs Lounge windows, meant to keep people from falling out, were just 14 inches apart while some managed to squeeze through and jump, others got stuck.
The ensuing 15 minutes were the most horrific that any of the 65 or so customers had ever endured - full of flames, smoke, panic, breaking glass, and screams. In the next instant, he found himself in unimaginable pain as the fireball exploded, pushing upward and into the bar. Boggs opened the door to find the front staircase engulfed in flames, along with the smell of lighter fluid. To answer it, you had to unlock a steel door that opened onto a flight of stairs leading down to the ground floor. The atmosphere was evem welcoming enough that two gay brothers, Eddie and Jim Warren, even brought their mom, Inez, and proudly introduced her to the other patrons.Īt 7:56pm, a buzzer from downstairs sounded bartender Buddy Rasmussen asked Luther Boggs to answer the door.
The club hosted free beer and dinner for 125 patrons. That Sunday, dozens of members of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), the nation’s first gay church, founded in Los Angeles in 1969, got together there for drinks and conversation and to celebrate the fourth anniversary of Stonewall. The gay club was, located on the second floor of a three-story building at the corner of Chartres and Iberville Streets in the French Quarter and L was one of a rare few left in the French Quarter that had a wooden exterior.
The UpStairs Lounge fire is the deadliest fire in New Orleans history and now the second largest mass murder of LGBT people ever in the United States I’ll have a beer for you when I get to the pub.49 years ago on June 24th, 1973 the final day of Pride Weekend, thirty-two lives were lost when an arsonist set fire to the UpStairs Lounge in New Orleans, Louisiana. You’d all follow him into the gym showers, right? lolĮnjoy, leave a comment, hit the thumbs up button, share the post. I’ve met guys like him at the gym before, those smooth studs who have so much power in their body, and they like it when guys pay attention ? He’s clearly proud of that body and why wouldn’t he be? In the meantime I’m happy just lusting after him and enjoying these sexy shots of the big man. Honestly, I’m hoping he’s already been in some naked shoots. I don’t know anything about this man at the moment but I plan to do a little digging. This is our first time enjoying this handsome hunk but I think we’re going to need to see more of him after this shoot by Alon Feller. I’ve got some work to do before then but it’s not exactly agony when I have gorgeous men like Yoav Even to look at.
It’s a glorious summer day here in the UK and I’m desperate to head to the pub garden.