55: The UpStairs Lounge Fire

In 1973, a horrific fire killed 32 people in the gay bar, the Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans. When city and state officials and the churches turned their backs on the victims and survivors of the tragedy, the gay community rallied together. Today it is known as the beginning of the Gay Rights Movement in New Orleans.

Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/55-the-upstairs-lounge-fire

Suggested Reading: The Up Stairs Lounge Arson: Thirty-Two Deaths in a New Orleans Gay Bar, June 24, 1973 by Clayton Delery-Edwards & Let the Faggots Burn: The UpStairs Lounge Fire by Johnny Townsend

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