5 20 2500 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/88fb77b05bea2edfbb23bd71931a6ebf.JPG 1d34ac961a8b015a20dcb5c1cf6cb39f https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/f64bdd647ea21ea193c6cdb0b57aab41.JPG d4b0fea7898ddb325621c8785c8e3925 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Person An individual. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Duane George “Mitch” Mitchell Description An account of the resource Duane George “Mitch” Mitchell (pictured on left), 31, beauty supply salesman and MCC assistant pastor, died going back into fire to save his partner, Louis Horace Broussard (see above). Mitch & Horace had dropped off Mitch’s sons at a nearby movie theater while they went to the Upstairs. Mitch was known for his Queen Victoria impersonation. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Johnny Townsend collection https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/8521ff7579623286b933c58bcff236ef.JPG 241c052bd8c98535fb121740c2d1ef3b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Person An individual. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Leon Richard Maples Description An account of the resource Leon Richard Maples, 31, auto mechanic visiting New Orleans from Jacksonville, Florida. (picture taken afternoon of fire.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Johnny Townsend collection https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/4d45e764f6c5f315461e90a298f3966f.JPG 736b3df9ed70c2d64460400fd7d3d6ef Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Person An individual. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource George Steven “Bud” Matyi Description An account of the resource George Steven “Bud” Matyi, 27, successful musician & MCC member; partner of Rod Wagener. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Johnny Townsend collection Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Person An individual. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Larry Stratton Description An account of the resource Larry Stratton, 25, from East St. Louis. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Person An individual. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mrs. Willie Inez Warren Description An account of the resource Mrs. Willie Inez Warren, 59, housekeeper from Monroeville, Alabama, died along with her sons James Curtis Warren, 26, and Eddie Hosea Warren, 24, both from Pensacola, Florida. https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/773806c1d4b5083e33c1968de4619589.JPG 13c84480d2411183371357f05bf03728 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Person An individual. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dr. Perry Lane Waters Description An account of the resource Dr. Perry Lane Waters, Jr., 41, Jefferson Parish dentist. Several victims were his patients and were identified through his records. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Johnny Townsend Collection https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/88aadecb41873332853d47c9d9c36ba2.jpg 81c9947964ff15f4d5a2f46e3e8b4bfd Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Person An individual. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas Maxwell Williams, Jr. Description An account of the resource Douglas Maxwell Williams, Jr., 20, truck driver in Waggaman, Louisiana. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Times-Picayune, June 28, 1973. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Person An individual. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Three unidentified men Description An account of the resource Three men who died in the fire were never identified. https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/06b565aa050af90a0f86c0f9ec25d1ef.jpg f9b50be8ca8ea49b2f077fab8cd94a28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Text Any textual data included in the document 1. Arsonist starts fire in entrance stairwell. 2. A patron heads to stairwell to answer ringing doorbell. 3. Stairwell door is opened, creating a strong back draft that consumes the bar area. 4. Bars on the windows trap most patrons inside. 5. The bartender leads some patrons toward the back of the building. 6. More than 20 patrons escape to the roof from a back door. 7. Fire kills 32 people; 28 die in the building (positions shown above), four other die shortly after. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource What Happened at the Upstairs Lounge Fire Description An account of the resource Graphic showing the Upstairs Lounge and its patrons on June 24th and the course of the fire. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Upstairs Lounge Fire documentary by Royd Anderson. Dan Swenson, graphics reporter. https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/7ae1d0e1b17d4e1d3f0b7387726f26b2.jpg b2c7b50049d0eb6c95689b1590854208 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/9b705b1f51a115e0527234974b5476e3.jpg 39054ce6c29b1b94adc7da984a33f9da https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/86ce5f33aa1a07a373254ad6d254fee0.jpg 625d4dd6adf704bd8bfd18c151c0a117 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/2c5cba79ad17724d16f804c4365ac3be.jpg 448a107934ec0c3a7352dc2e86470b82 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Text Any textual data included in the document <h3>Holocaust in New Orleans by George Schwandt</h3> New Orleans—The tragic fire at a gay bar here on Sunday, June 24—being celebrated as Gay Pride in many of the nation’s cities—turned a festive evening info a hell in which 29 persons died. One other man died in a hospital four days later. Fourteen others were injured, several of them barely clinging to life nearly a week after the blaze. The belief was widespread that the bar—the Up Stairs Lounge—had been firebombed, but authorities had still made no official determination of the cause of the blaze nearly a week later. Fire Supt. William McCrossan said “it could be one of the worst fires in the city’s history in terms of people killed.” Certainly never before in the memory of observers had a gay bar the scene of such a tragedy, and both local officials and local and national news media struggled visibly to reconcile the natural human reaction of shock and dismay with the dislike of homosexuals so deeply engrained in American society. Maj. Henry Morris, chief of detectives of the New Orleans Police Department, drew a stringing denunciation from the Rev. Troy Perry, head of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, for reportedly referring to the Up Stairs as “a queer bar. ”Mr. Perry, who flew here immediately after the fire, said the police department later disputed whether the statement had been made but apologized anyway. There were reports, which fire investigators here would neither confirm nor deny, that both the FBI and the National Fire Prevention Bureau were aiding police, the state fire marshal’s office, and the New Orleans Fire Prevention Division in the investigation of the blaze. The tragedy revived a controversy over preservation of many of the ancient buildings in the French Quarter. The Up Stairs was on the second floor of one of these, a three-story structure on Iberville Street a block from Canal Street. Timothy A. Driscoll, an assistant state fire marshal, charged June 27 that by fighting demolition of unsafe structures, the Vieux Carre Commission is inviting a holocaust that could involve the entire Quarter. Another second floor bar on Iberville, a block from the Up Stairs, the Safari Lounge, was closed by the Fire Prevention Bureau in the wake of the Up Stairs for alleged fire code violations. The Safari is not gay. The Up Stairs was in compliance with the fire code according to Driscoll, who examined the gutted building after the blaze. However, New Orleans Coroner Carl Rabin said a false plywood wall in the bar, which blocked access to windows “certainly contributed to the death toll.” The fire was a major blow to the local Metropolitan Community Church, which had held some of its early meetings at the Up Stairs. The bar was still a favorite haunt for MCC members, and about ten of them – nearly a third of the membership - were missing or dead in the fire. Among the dead was the church’s interim pastor, The Rev. William R. Larson, 47. The occasion for the gathering the afternoon of June 24 was the bar’s regular Sunday afternoon beer bust from 5 to 7 PM. Over 125 persons were in the bar just before the beer bust officially ended, but by 7:30 the crowd had thinned to about 60. Many were gathered around a baby grand piano in one corner, singing. William White of Pineville, La. was quoted by United Press International as saying he had left the bar moments before the fire because “there were a couple of guys quarreling at the top of the stairs” which led to the bar. Other survivors have confirmed that there was some altercation, but accounts vary as to whether anyone had been ejected from the premises or had been asked to leave. Summons to Disaster – A few minute before eight, a buzzer used by taxi driver at the entrance to summon customers, sounded. Someone opened the heavy fire door connecting the top of a narrow flight of stairs to the lounge. A ball of flame, which some witnesses said seemed to be fed by gasoline or some other inflammable fluid, burst into the bar. Someone screamed “Fire.” Panic followed. The acoustical tile in the false ceiling ignited, the flames shot through the open space, and within seconds the ceiling was a sheet of fire. Douglas “Buddy” Rasmussen, UpStairs Lounge manager, who had been tending bar, called out for the crowd to not panic. He led about 20 people out an obscure back exit, which led to a roof door – and safety. But most of the people in the bar either did not know about the rear door or had no chance to reach it. One of them was Rasmussen’s lover, Adam R. Fontenot, who died in the flames. Tragic Figure One man wrenched an air conditioner out of a window apparently covered otherwise with a sheet of plywood, but could not get through the opening, news photos of the fire showed his body resting on the window sill – a macabre, mannequin-like figure, its face showing the horror of death. Some MCC members said that was Mr. Larson, but others disputed the identification. Another man was in a washroom when a friend rushed in and said someone had started a fire. They looked to see the ceiling ablaze. The first man dived for a window about five feet away and escaped by kicking out the glass panes as flames seared his back. The friend who had warned of the danger didn’t manage to follow him. Others who tried to get through windows were trapped by burglar bars. About 20 others escaped through the unbarred windows on the opposite side of the room. Many leaped to the street, some sustaining fractures in the drop. Spectators amid blood and glass, littering the pavement, helped extinguish their flaming clothing. With city fire headquarters only three blocks away, firemen arrived within minutes, rescuing others who had gotten out of the windows and stood on ledges or on a fire escape which did not provide a ladder to the ground. The firemen had the flames under control within 16 minutes after the first alarm. When they were able to enter, they found a scene of horror - bodies piled on the floor, most of them near the false plywood wall. Fire officials initially released a fatality count of 38, but it developed that, in the confusion, some bodies had been counted twice. The scene at Charity Hospital where the injured were taken was a gruesome one. Nurses divided themselves in teams, some gathering blood, others checking vital signs of life and trying to get names from those who could talk. Some were burned over 100 per cent of their bodies. Doctors were cutting away dead and charred skin, racing against time to save the lives of their moaning, unmoving patients. As they worked, ambulances delivered more stretchers bearing cut and burned victims. Police officers arrived, and later friends and families of the suffering swelled the crowds in the halls. Who started the fire? There was no doubt among any of those present that the bar had been torched. But was it a disgruntled patron or someone whose mind was twisted by hatred of homosexuals? The gay community was initially alarmed when TV channel 8 reported having received a call from a woman saying, “The fire last night was set by a vigilante group which has declared a war on homos. The group is called ‘Black Momma, White Momma’,” after a movie of the same name. More attacks were planned,” the caller said. The station gave a tape recording of the call to police. But detectives have proclaimed the call a hoax and appear to be directing their investigation principally on the theory that the arsonist was a patron. <h3>Fire tragedy confuses both straights, gays</h3> by Bill Rushton, Managing Editor, Vieux Carre Courier NEW ORLEANS - Reactions here to the Up Stairs lounge tragedy was mixed and widely variable –depending more on the sensitivities of the observer than on raw details of the tragedy. The city’s daily news media was perhaps the clumsiest observer of all. The gay world here is rarely mentioned in their news accounts, and never referred to as any kind of ”community.” The last known time the gay world surfaced in the straight press, before the tragedy of June 24, had been on a locally produced noontime television news and variety program 1 ½ years ago. Films of the drag ball of a gay Mardi Gras social club caused a few ripples but raised eye brows only among angry members of the club. That left the media inexperienced and unable to explain the tragedy to its readers and viewers – despite a dozen gay reporters in the local press corps whose first-hand knowledge could have improved their coverage. For example, the Monday morning New Orleans Times-Picayune avoided the use of the word “homosexual.” Tuesday, it used the word “gay” on page 3. The afternoon New Orleans State-Times joined the NBC news and the local NBC station in calling the Up Stairs a “homosexual hangout” and then went on to quote a police official’ charge that “thieves” were known to work there, too. The morning New Orleans Daily Record kept the story calm, positioning it at the top of the front page for three days running. It assigned its women’s editor to the only early story in print, focusing sympathetically on the Metropolitan community church, its fears of exposure, and its representation, and harassment in the midst of already burdensome tragedy. Editorials discussed the need for stronger fire laws but touched on none of the human relations angles of the story that the newspapers themselves had permitted to worsen, Except for two state senators urging better fire laws, public officials were equally mum. Meanwhile, local television stations engaged in their usual competitive scoopsmanship, with little in the way of background or penetrating analysis. The NBC affiliate was the first on the air with the word “homosexual,” but the ABC affiliate scooped them all with the Monday night report of an anonymous threat from terrorist group of self-described “victims” of homosexual attacks who had maps, and plans for future bombings, they said. The story was so ludicrous that even the New Orleans Police Department quickly repudiated it as nothing more than a crank call. Once again, it was a woman reporter at the CBS affiliate who finally undertook the task of explaining the ordinary humanity of the victims, some of whom had children and all of whom were preparing to stage a crippled children’s benefit show at the bar June 30. Though more people died at the Up Stairs than in prior (and more thoroughly reported) Rault Center and Howard Johnson’s fire disasters, media interest in this story began to lag after inly the first two days. Largely because of this distant – and occasionally irresponsible – reporting, crowds of tourists and onlookers filed past the fatal corner for three days. But there were few clues to be and on the street, and the hustler bars along Iberville in the same neighborhood as the Up Stairs, were quiet, deserted, and sullen as the tourists gawked. Since New Orleans’ French Quarter houses all of the city’s two dozen gay bars and a substantial number of its gay residents, the quarter’s “queer” reputation was as much discussed as the tragedy itself. Comments like “I hope they burned their dresses off,” or “It was only faggots – why worry?” caused numerous fights and confrontations in the quarter. The bars were ultimately filled with gossip, paranoia, and sadness. It was the worst paranoia to strike here since a patron, thrown out f the city’s best-know bar, rammed his pickup truck through the front wall in retaliation, or since the murder of two Gays by a third, drug-crazed Gay during the Super Bowl two years ago. Irony abounded. One of those murders ahs occurred in a straight bar on the ground floor of the building where the Up Stairs is located. And the Up Stairs opened three years ago with equipment salvaged from a bar in a flop-house hotel across the street that had burned two months earlier. The City’s only organized gay liberation, The Tulane Gay Students Union, had disbanded for the Summer, leaving local MCC leaders and a few nationally known outsiders to call the press conferences and plan the services and try to calm down the gay community in the wake of the tragedy and its accompanying subdues hostility in the straight community . <h3>Pray for those who did this’</h3> New Orleans - “The individuals who did this: they’re the ones we have to pray for. They have to live with themselves. This will be on their conscience for the rest of their lives.” So spoke the Rev. Troy Perry, founder and moderator of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, at a Monday evening memorial service here June 25, for victims of the previous day’s disaster at the Up Stairs Lounge. The services were conducted by the Rev, William Richardson Jr., rector of St. George’s Episcopal church, which had permitted the MCC congregation to hold its initial meeting in the its chapel. About 10 MCC members apparently died in the fire. Among the dead was the interim pastor, the Rev. William Larson, 47. Father Richardson spoke about Mr. Larson, his church work, and his efforts to help people. Mr. Perry observed that “ my brothers and sisters were destroyed in the fire, they are at peace now.” “Someone said, ‘It was just a bunch of faggots, ‘ but we know them as people and brothers and sisters and will never forget them, “ he added. Also assisting with the service were the Rev. David Solomon, founder of New Orleans MCC, the Rev. John Gill, district coordinator and pastor of Atlanta MCC, and Lucien Baril, newly-appointed MCC worship coordinator here. Nearly 200 attended the emotional ceremony. Many had suffered the loss of close personal friends; many were in tears. Mr. Gill described New Orleans as a city of sorrow, expressing hope that the great loss will bring the city together. “New Orleans should not be the city that care forgot, but the city that God remembered,” he said. Mr. Solomon spoke briefly on the loss of a close personal friend. Courtney Craighead, an MCC deacon who escaped the fire uninjured, gave a short sermon. In closing, Mr. Perry called for a nationwide day of mourning the following Sunday, and suggested that gay bars and nightclubs mark the occasion for a one-hour period starting at 8 PM that July 1. “This is a most tragic ending of Gay Pride Week, where so many good, positive events resulted in a great number of new avenues of progress, for the nation’s homosexual community,” he said. Following the Monday service, members of the MCC party toured a number of bars, “because people were really scared.” Mr. Perry reported. “We visited Pete’s, The Cavern, and Lafitte’s in Exile and made our presence known in all of them. The response we got has been just fantastic.” <h3>22 fire dead identified positively; 3 tentatively</h3> NEW ORLEANS – Nearly a week after the Up Stairs Lounge fire, the coroner’s office had been able to establish positive identification of only 21 of the 29 who died in the blaze, plus one man who died later in Charity Hospital. Fourteen others were injured. Through the local metropolitan Community Church, the ADVOCATE obtained tentative identification of three more. James Curtis Warren, 26, and his brother Eddie Hosea Warren, 25, both of Pensacola, Fla., had taken their mother, Inez Warren, 50, of Monroeville, Ala., to visit the bar, All three were positively identified as having died in the flames. George C. “Mitch” Mitchell, an exhorter in he local Metropolitan Community C, escaped from the inferno, then went back in –despite firemen who attempted to restrain him – to attempt to rescue his lover, Louis Horace Broussard, 26, of Kaplan, La. Broussard has been positively identified as one of the dead. Mitchell’s name did not appear on the coroner’s list, but MCC sources said there was no doubt he also died. A divorcee, Mitchell had left his two children watching movie at a local theatre. The body of William R. Larson, 47, MCC interim pastor, was identified by the coroner’s office June 28. A number of persons were led to safety by Douglas Rasmussen, manager of the Up Stairs, who also escaped. But his lover, Adam R. Fontenot, was on the coroner’s list. Other dead who have been positively identified by the coroner’s office included: Donald Walter Dunbar, 21, Tampa, Fla.; Leon Richard Maples, 31, Jacksonville, Fla.; John F. Golding, 49, New Orleans; Joe William Bailey, 29, Talapoosa, La.; George Steven Matyi, 27, Slidwell, La.; Clarence Joseph McCloskey, 48, New Orleans; Douglas Williams, age and address unavailable; Robert Lumpkin, 30, no address; Kenneth P. Harrington, 48, New Orleans; Dr. Perry Waters, Hanrahan, La.; David Gary, no age or address; Glenn R. Green, 32, Algiers, La.; Horace Gretchell, no age or address; Joe Adams, no age or address; and Gerald Gordon, 37, born in Coronersville, Tenn. Jim Hambrick, 45, of New Orleans, died in Charity Hospital June 28 of burns over 50 percent of his body surface. Others tentatively identified by MCC sources are ˝Guy Anderson and Norman LaVergne. A “Kenneth Horton” on the MCC list was believed to be the same person as Kenneth P. Harrington on the coroner’s list. In addition to Mr. Larson, Broussard, Lumpkin, Green and Golding were identified as MCC members. Golding was a member of the church’s Board of Elders. Several MCC members were believed to be among those not yet identified. A coroner’s office spokesman said the only means of identifying many of the bodies was dental records. The personal effects, wallets, and identification cards of many of the victims were burned or melted beyond use, according to a doctor who viewed the bodies at Charity Hospital after the fire. Some may never be definitely identified. The Rev. Troy Perry denounced as “racist” a statement by Maj. Henry Morris, chief of detectives of the New Orleans Police department. “We don’t even know if these papers belong to the people we found them on,” Morris said, referring to identification on some of the bodies, “Some thieves hung out there, you know. This was a queer bar.” Mr. Perry said the police department later disputed the statement, but apologized anyway. The injured included Adolph Median, 32; Francis Dufrene, 21; Linn Quinton 25; and Philip Byrd all treated at Charity Hospital the night of the fire and released. A fifth person, identified only as “a boy called ‘Rusty,’ ” was partially treated and walked out of the hospital – possibly in a state of shock – without being released. Still hospitalized as of June 29, with the hospital in which they were being treated and their condition at that time, were: Luther Boggs, 47, and Larry Stratton, 24, both at Charity Hospital in serious to critical condition; Michael Scarborough, 27, and Roger Dunn, 26 at West Jefferson General Hospital. Scarborough was in fair condition, Dunn in “guarded condition; Sidney Espanache, 50, at Southern Baptist Hospital in serious condition; Eddie Gillis, 52, at Veterans Administration Hospital in poor condition; Eugene Thomas, 42, and Fred Ohway, both at Toure Infirmary in fair condition; Jean Gosnell, 36, in fair condition at U. S. Public Health Service Hospital. The ADVOCATE decided to print the full list of names only after finding that the names were readily available to authorities and the press, and most had been published elsewhere. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Gay Pride Day: Triumph & Tragedy Description An account of the resource The July 18th edition of The Advocate looks at the Upstairs tragedy, called “Holocaust,” in great depth, drawing on perspectives from the New Orleans gay community. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Advocate, July 18, 1973 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/707f82e2eacc4ea65882769f48b3e6cc.jpg d34149b5b80838e6defda262aeb532d7 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/11cc5c9e71e732856c63a44e600ff57b.jpg d383f4c4ab55f527b703d2ce31a1b18e https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/b2d8193e62be1d03d0d265a05ce2da12.jpg f1618922f3e0a8c8950e7ab9ff2f55ed Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Text Any textual data included in the document New Orleans toll 32; arson evidence cited NEW ORLEANS - With the death toll in the Up Stairs bar fire up to 32, new evidence of arson ha been unofficially reported here, but authorities continue to be tight –lipped. Several persons have been questioned in connection with the fire, but there were no suspects in custody as of July 12. General community reaction to the tragedy has continued to range from mild hostility to total apathy, but on a more positive note, a new gay activist group has been formed. The latest deaths in the blaze were those of Larry Stratton 24, and Luther Boggs, 47. Both died in Charity Hospital. Stratton July 12 and Boggs July 10. The other 29 perished at the time of the blaze. Four bodies remained unidentified as of July 12. Among the confirmed dead was that of George C. “Mitch” Mitchell, 36, a Metropolitan Community Church exhorter and former assistant pastor, who escaped from the burning building and then fought off firemen to re-enter it in an effort to rescue his lover, Horace Broussard, 26. His body was found over Broussard’s. Eight persons remained hospitalized, five in “grave” condition, two in “critical” condition, and one in serious condition. The arson evidence came from sources to the management of the Up Stairs, who now say that a can of Ronson lighter fluid was found in the stairway of the bar after the fire. The report would seem to back up eyewitness accounts of the fire being seen on the bottom three steps of the stairway moments before the building erupted in flames. Fire department spokesmen expressed initial surprise at the report, saying that evidence of that nature had not been officially determined. It is possible that some evidence in the case is being kept confidential, however, and a spokesman insisted that as large or larger an effort is being devoted to this case than the Ralt Center fire disaster which preceded it. High-Level Silence Meanwhile, there was a strange silence on the part of the city’s leadership. At City Hall, the Human Relations Committee said it had sent a private note to the chief of police deploring public remarks attributed by the press to Maj. Henry Morris, chief of detectives of the New Orleans Police Department. Morris was quoted as calling the Up Stairs a “hangout for thieves and homosexuals.” A police spokesman later said that the attribution was false, but apologized to gay leaders anyway. No plans for a public statement have been made, said a spokesman for the rights unit, and no representatives had been sent to either of two memorial services held for the victims of the fire the week before. Churches Also Silent The local Roman Catholic archdiocesan human relations committee said they had seen no reason to issue any statement on the matter and they had no plans to issue one now. The Roman Catholic archbishop of New Orleans also had issued no statement and had no explanation to offer. The priest who answered the chancellory office’s telephone let long pauses of silence separate our questions and made no real reply to any of them – all this despite the fact that at least one Catholic – an ex-Jesuit scholastic from New Orleans’ Loyola University – had been one of he 32 people now dead as a result of the fire. Only one spokesman from the Protestant clergy stepped forward to join the mourners. That was Rev. Finis Crutchfield, the Methodist bishop of Louisiana, who personally authorized memorial services at St. Mark’s Methodist Community Center on North Ramparts Street the Sunday following the blaze (July 1) and stayed there to attend services with the pastor of the church. Services were held at St. Mark’s after several churches refused to permit us of their facilities. The Metropolitan Community Church of Greater New Orleans declined to identify the refusing churches to newsman and would only praise Bishop Crutchfield. There were other reports, however, that the Episcopal bishop of Louisiana had ordered the services not to be held in any of the Episcopal churches approached. Other public officials reacting – or not reacting –to the blaze included the governor’s office, which declined to make a statement, and New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu. Just back in town from Europe and holding his first press conference July 1, Landrieu said that he considered any loss of life a problem for the city. As for the subdued nature of community reaction to the “homosexual” angle of the tragedy, Landrieu said, “I’m just as much concerned about that life as any other life. “ and “ I’m not aware of any lack of concern in this community over the loss of those lives.” Individual Expressions of Concern Despite the silence, however, a number of positive, largely individual expressions of concern have begun to surface. Visitors to New Orleans’ Charity Hospital the night of the fire were greeted by an entire emergency wing cleared out for their convenience. The social worker at the hospital who arranged for the space also persuaded the dietary department to provide coffee. The police officers and staff involved in the “dispassionate” handling of the emergency were absolutely “noncondemnatory” she said. The principal problems came from hysterical parents suffering from poor communications with reclusive (per)sons, whom the parents feared might be among the victims of the blaze. The coroner’s office had 12 “possibilities’ still left July 12 on the list of “candidates” for bodies number 13, 18, 23, and 28, most of them phoned in from wives and parents as far away as California and Michigan. One of the largest floral arrangements sent to St. Mark’s for the service had been hand-wired by French Quarter flowers vendor Jo Ann Clevenger, who also operates several “straight” bars in the quarter. The Young Democrats at Louisiana State University branch in New Orleans issued a statement supporting the national day of mourning called by gay leaders July 1 and urged “complete rewriting and enforcement of state and local fire codes.” The Up Stairs Players, a group of actors who had been meeting and performing at the Up Stairs prior to the tragedy, have been invited by the Salt and Pepper Lounge to present a Crippled Children’s Hospital benefit show originally schedule for June 30 at the Up Stairs. Perhaps the most significant development has been the founding of a Gay People’s Coalition (GPC), with its second meeting July 10. Several committees, contact persons, and telephone numbers for gay services have been announced. A listing in the New Orleans telephone directory under the title “Gay Switchboard” has been approved by South Central Bell Telephone Co. and will be announced shortly. Committees are also being formed to work with city agencies, media, legal problems, gay parents, and other problems, and full committee reports will be published in a French Quarter community newsletter. Yet, there remains considerable paranoia on the streets, fed by the following ugly incidents: Almost as soon as some people began placing flowers at the door of the Up Stairs the Monday after the blaze, some other people began removing them. One man, seeing this, didn’t like it and stood guard by the door, telling people to leave the flowers alone. The first Saturday night in the French Quarter after the fire, uniformed and plainclothes police officers were placed outside three gay bars that had received threatening phone calls. The calls materialized in the aftermath of crank calls phoned in to local television stations and reported to the public on only one of them. Patrons of the guarded bars subsequently reported that the police harassed them. The crowds in the bars were generally one-third to one-half their usual Saturday night size. Meanwhile, in front of the candle and flower strewn “People’s Shrine” at the Up Stairs entrance, a woman watering the flowers was arrested by the police for “obscenity against a police officer” after failure to move on. The following Monday afternoon, her case came before Civil District Court and was dismissed because arresting officials failed to appear. No Moral Arrests Police have made no arrests on any “homosexual” or other “morals” charges in New Orleans in the last two years, and none of their records comment on alleged clientele of night spots where arrests are made. Sgt. Frank Hayward, police information officer, says the department has no record of any arrests at the Up Stairs – for thievery or anything else. Community trust in the police department, however, has not been aided by the Up Stairs incident and the subsequent lack of any new official developments in its quietly proceeding investigations. Some complaints have been made, for instance, about a group of “thugs” from the 100 block of Royal Street, near the Up Stairs, led by a man who identified as “Chucky,” who reportedly went through the Quarter collecting “donations” for the fire victims, and then pocketing the proceeds. Those reports were not being forwarded to the police because of fear of reprisal from the thugs and for fear of inaction on the matter by the police, complainants said. But the worst case of paranoia of all came from initial reports that there later determined to be untrue that four of the 32 dead had been secretly buried in a local pauper’s cemetery. The New Orleans Parish coroner’s office produced the names of the four paupers buried in the cemetery and the bodies of the victims remaining in order in order to disprove the reports. Bar’s funky décor, clutter created instant firestorm NEW ORLEANS - The speed with which fire swept the Up Stairs bar remains hard to grasp. One minute, the victims were laughing and singing; the next minute, they were screaming human torches, groping frantically for a way out of a sea of flame. Descriptions of the bar by those who knew it offer an explanation – and an object lesson for patrons and operators of dozens, perhaps hundreds of cluttered, funky, home places like it all over the nation. This is how the Up Stairs looked the day of the fire, as described by Bill Rushton, managing editor of the Vieux Carre Courier. “The arched opening between the bar and the second room was festooned with Fourth of July decorations, in place to publicize the forthcoming festivities. The bar was its usual clutter of leftover Mardi Gras Streamers and Christmas decorations, oriental lanterns and cardboard-plastic whiskey advertising displays. Burt Reynolds posters and campy fountains gurgling in several corners – all of it in a big dimly-lit room muffled with red-flocked wallpaper and carpets – with a white baby rand piano-bar commanding one corner where the Marriott Hotel’s featured pianist, David Gary, was guesting for fun. Gary died in the fire. When the steel fire door was opened, admitting flames from the burning stairway, there was a few seconds’ grace during which Buddy Rasmussen was able to shoo 15 to 20 patrons through the backroom toward safety. As they filed out, the lights went out. Rushton gave this vivid image of what happened next: The stools were still standing in the orange glow gathering around the stairwell. A window by the piano bar had been pried open, admitting light and the promise of a safe escape out the three windows facing Chartres Street for those who still remained. But suddenly, the ceiling, the decorations, and the carpet exploded. Those still in the first bar, many of them tipsy from two hours of the afternoon’s beer bust, panicked and rushed to the Chartres Street windows chasing the light, some of them spilling out into the street, but, most of them crushed against each other in 16 minutes of plastic-fed firestorm. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Continued Coverage in Gay Press Description An account of the resource The August 1st edition of The Advocate continues analyzing what happened at the Upstairs Lounge and the responses from the gay community as well as city officials. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Advocate, August 1, 1973. https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/61983c6a886da5e4a73c5a21f0ef225c.jpg f86852b3fbdb742010845dbedaf528f7 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/bf2e2811e459038f19edcec858c24666.jpg 99045e5709a78a61cbbb748c7d3fd825 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/17087351998687b52f3cc3d5329d264a.jpg 0f975806aff7e567ee4e381aeb7209d1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Text Any textual data included in the document ‘A part of our souls was ignited…’ by Martin St. John In a rare show of national gay togetherness, memorial services were conducted throughout the United States the weekend after the holocaust at the Up Stairs bar in New Orleans. Ironically, the closest thing to a national day of observance heretofore was the celebration in many cities of Gay Pride Day the last Sunday in June, the day the New Orleans tragedy occurred. Gay historian Jim Kepner, speaking at the Los Angeles service, expressed what seem to be a common feeling among mourners everywhere when he said, “Inescapably, for each of us, a part of our souls was ignited, and a part charred, in the Up Stairs bar last Sunday.” He then went on to rebuke the millions of Gays who ignored the services, “to whom this awful massacre seems no more personal than any news report of anonymous peasants dead in China of flood or famine.” Most of the services were conducted by the local congregations of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan community churches, whose New Orleans congregation was decimated by the fire. The best attended services were conducted on Sunday, July 1 – which gay leaders had sought to designate as a National Day of Mourning – in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, Calif., and in New Orleans. Some 500 persons crowded into San Francisco MCC. Over 400 attended Los Angeles MCC services. 250 mourners turned out in New Orleans. Some 125 were at an ecumenical service in New York, and 120 attended San Diego MCC services. In San Francisco, gay political activist Jim Foster – a director of three organizations – was guest speaker, he said that this sense of outrage was not directed so much at the people responsible for the fire as it was “toward the climate of ignorance, hate, and fear that exits in this country that allows this kind of thing to happen.” A living memorial service,” he asserted, “is not as important as a living memorial – a determination that we must go out of this church tonight and work to end arbitrary discrimination, discriminatory law enforcement, and to establish more viable social service opportunities for our less fortunate brothers and sisters.” Foster urged all “to determine that the sacrifice in New Orleans is met with our own sacrifice in terms of time, effort, and money.” The Rev. James Sandmire, who conducted the service, said, “Many people are oppressed, but we are the only group that is oppressed because we want to love.” He said that for 200 years homosexuals have been called “sinful” and “sick” and this has caused people to “look upon us a lonely, alienated, emotionally immature, and mentally unbalanced… those who died in the New Orleans fire were simply eating and drinking together in a spirit of fellowship. They were people relating to one another,” The entire congregation then joined hands over their heads for the popular MCC hymn, “ I am not Afraid Anymore.” At the service were San Francisco Sheriff Richard Hongisto and John Molinari, a member of the Board of Supervisors. Hongisto later expressed his concern to the ADVOCATE that all of the fires at gay places in the past year be properly evaluated. “I believe that there should be a close evaluation of the circumstance surrounding all of the fires to determine who is responsible and whether or not they are related.” The crowd in San Francisco was considerably swelled by other Northern California MCC members and clergy. In Los Angeles, over 400 jammed into the parking lot at the HELP CENTER for a memorial service. The service started with a prayer by the Rev. June Norris, associate pastor of Los Angeles MCC. Jerry Small, vice president of Beth Chayim Chasashim, a Metropolitan Community Temple, then read the traditional Jewish Prayer of Mourning, in the original Aramaic. This was followed by a choral offering from the choir, “Peace, Be Still,” Deacon Bill Thorne of Los Angeles MCC read a passage from the New Testament, and Morris Kight, president of the board of the Los Angeles Gay Community Services Center, addressed the group on a “A Sense of Community Through Love.” The Rev. Lee Carlton, pastor-elect of Los Angeles MCC, gave a condolence address, followed by speakers from throughout the community. These included the Most Rev. Mikhail Francis Itkin, C.L.C.; Rick Reyes, Greater Liberated Chicanos; James Kepner, president of ONE, Inc.; Jeanne Cordova, staff coordinator, the Lesbian Tide; Maxine Feldman, gay feminist singer; Mina Robinson, director emeritus, GCSC; and r, Evelyn Hooker, clinical psychologist. The Rev. Troy Perry, just returned from New Orleans who had earlier broken into tears at the sight of the familiar faces at the service, delivered the memorial address. Filmmaker Pat Rocco then sang what is believed to be the last song shared by the group at the Up Stairs before the fire – “United We Stand,” which was their customary closing song. A weeping Kight and Mr. Perry then joined in lighting 30 votive candles – one for each person killed in New Orleans, The congregation then sang “We Shall Overcome” before communion. Father Itkin, bishop-abbot of the Evangelical Catholic Communion; Community of the Love of Christ, called for the creation of a society where such a disaster as happened in New Orleans would not be repeated. “Our brothers and our sisters whose tragic death we mourn tonight. must not be allowed to have died in vain. To simply mourn them this night, and then forget the struggle is not only to betray their memory, but also to betray ourselves and the faith we claim to profess …” he asserted. “In closing,“ Itkin said. “I’d like to again quote from Joe hill, a union organizer martyred by the State of Utah. In his will, the closing words are: “Don’t mourn – organize!” Reyes issued a call for compassion and understanding, for love, and brotherhood. ‘New, Terrible Witchburning:’ Kepner, after blasting what he called the apathy of most Gays towards the New Orleans tragedy, went on to say this: “We – each of us—knew those who became faggots for a new and terrible witch burning. We knew those who met their deaths piled promiscuously in such a hopeless mass of flesh that individual identification was near impossible, knew them through the universality of the gay experience,” he said. “Inescapably,” Kepner asserted, “for each of us, a part of our souls was ignited, and a part charred, in the Upstairs bar last Sunday, as those 29 bodies were so mangle together to become one flesh, one angry flame of revolutionary love, which no fire department will ever extinguish, nor any newspaper blackout ever hide from public view, though it may take us a year – as with Watergate – to bring it to full public attention.” “We still only half-learned that liberation is more than the right to have drag balls and consensual adult sex. We are only barely learning – and in that, Up Stairs bar was far ahead of other New Orleans bars – that gay love is a wider, deeper commitment than the mere search for sex thrills and partners. And we must find ways to live as those 29 died - forged so closely together in the flames of our shared oppression and our love that no man can put us asunder.” “If their death does for nothing, then it will have been our souls that were charred beyond recovery in that barroom inferno…” Kepner concluded Cordova called for the New Orleans dead to be remembered along with other gay martyrs, each year on the anniversary of the fire – Gay Pride Day. Maxine Peldman sang “Angry Atthis,” her gay folk song, which declared; “ I hate not being able to hold my lover’s hand, except under some dimly lit table, afraid of being who I am.” ‘Our Worst Fears:’ Robinson followed, reading a poem” New Orleans 1973,” by her companion, Sharon Raphael, which declared, “Our worst fears can come true, that we can die in any circumstance, at any moment, as prisoners of the dark, and as seekers after liberation. Let us not forget what we might best remember: That we, too, are the survivors of New Orleans: of our worst fears and greatest dreams.” She also read a poem by Lenore Kandel, “First, They Slaughtered the Angels.” Hooker read, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.” A poem in villanelle form by the late Dylan Thomas, whose lines of repetition are: “Do not go gentle into that good night,” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” In New Orleans 250 persons – including person who had escaped from the fire or been slightly injured in it – turned out for the memorial service held July 1 at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church. The Rev. Paul Breton, Northeast District coordinator for the MCC Fellowship, started the service with a prayer, followed by a reading of “a whole list of telegrams from all over the country and London, England,” by Lucien Baril, worship coordinator for the New Orleans MCC. Morty Manford, special delegate to New Orleans from the New York Gay Activists, expressed condolences on behalf of the national gay community. Mr. Perry preached the eulogy, the central theme of which was developed around “United We Stand,” which the congregation sang after the eulogy. After the eulogy, Breton led a silent prayer. Manford, following the prayer, told the mourners that “the church calls us sinners, psychiatrists say were sick, the police call us criminal, the capitalist call us subversive, and the communists say we are decadent.” During the final hymn, Mr. Perry interrupted the organist to announce that cameras from local television stations and the New Orleans Times-Picayune were waiting outside, and a side exit was available. “Nobody went out the side door,” Mr. Breton noted. In New York, the Church of the Beloved Disciple held a memorial service, conducted by the Right Rev.. Robert M. Clement, its pastor, as part of its regular Sunday service. The parish donated $25 from its own funds, Father Clement said, upon hearing the news of the fire. The evening service of New York Metropolitan Community church was given over to an ecumenical service. The Rev. Roy Birchard, MCC pastor; the Rev. Howard Wells, assistant MCC Pastor; the Rev. Robert Carter of Dignity; and Fr. Clement conducted the memorial service. A member of the Gay Synagogue in New York delivered a prayer at the service, Fr. Clement said. Brother Kristian Caron delivered a message of condolence from the Church of the Holy Apostles, an Episcopal church which works closely with the gay community. Susan Day, a local activist, delivered another message of condolence, calling for the memory of the New Orleans victims to be kept alive, and Jay Friend, am member of Metropolitan Gay community council, delivered an appeal for blood and money for the victims. Over $300 was raised for the fire fund, Fr. Clement said. ‘Freedom:’ In San Diego, the service was conducted by the Rev. John Hose, vice moderator of the MCC fellowship, as part of the regular Sunday evening service of the MCC there. The theme of the service was “Freedom.” Mr. Hose said $40 was taken up in a “love offering” for the New Orleans’ victims. In Long Beach, Calif., some 110 persons attended a memorial service July 1, according to the pastor, the Rev. Robert Cunningham. A member of the church, Hugh Cooley, was among those who died in the fire, Mr. Cunningham said. Across the nation in Miami, three MCC memorial services were conducted – one just after the fire on June 25, and two on July 1, Sixty attended the first service conducted by the Rev. Frank. D. Crouch, Jr. Sixty-five were present at a Sunday morning service July 1, conducted by the Rev. Herb Hunt, an MCC exhorter, and 45 attended an evening service July 1. Media Response: Mr. Crouch reported that the media in Miami had been very active in its support of the memorial efforts. “We had the story all day Sunday on two of our television stations, both of our papers, and three of our radio stations.” “As a result,” he said, “three heterosexual churches, not connected with MCC, “have donated blood and sent 25 pints each to the victims.” He said the services were very simple, with a flower-decked altar, and over $916 was collected for the memorial fund. In Washington D.C., 100 turned out for the memorial services mid-afternoon on July 1. The service was conducted by “Brother John”, the pastor of the Washington MCC, who was joined by the Rev. William Moreman, the pastor of the First Congregational Church, where MCC holds its services, and the Rev. Walter, pastor of Concordia United Church of Christ. The Rev. Rick Weatherly, assistant MCC pastor, said a cross-section of the gay community had attended the service. “We managed to get bar owners, drag groups, bike club members, and all sorts of people there,” he said. The service’s offering resulted in $207 for the memorial fund. Mr. Weatherly said. In Boston, the Rev. Larry Bernier, pastor of Boston MCC, was joined by the Rev. Don McGraw, the Rev. Nancy Wilson, and the Rev. Penny Perrault, all of Boston MCC. Ms. Perrault reported that the memorial service started “with a mourning theme, with a death theme, and then finished up with a resurrection theme.” Fifty-Five persons turned out for a June 30 service, she said, and the Sunday regular service July 1, was also conducted as a memorial service. In Salt Lake City, the Rev. Richard Groh, pastor of the MCC, and Virgil Scott, chairman of the board of deacons, conducted the memorial service July 1. God’s plan: Mr. Groh said that the service centered around “expressing our loss, but our faith in God that the church would rise again, that there are no mistakes or accidents in God’s master plan.” “We believe this,” he said. “We believe that if this has happened, if God has allowed it to happen, then he’s going to bless us in some way. We did take a memorial offering that amounted to $214.” “Approximately 40 people” turned out or the service, he said. At the Denver Metropolitan Community Church – no longer a member of the Universal Fellowship – the Rev. Ron Carnes and the Rev. Robert Darst conducted a memorial service during the regular Sunday evening worship service July 1. Some 30 persons attended this service. The Denver church reported that its deacons were collecting a memorial offering for the New Orleans victims. In Milwaukee, where an MCC mission has been discontinued, about 65 persons attended a July 1 service at the Church for All People, conducted by the Rev. Bill Parish, pastor of the church, and the Rev. Wilbur _ _ain, a Lutheran minister and a leader of the Council on Religion and the Homosexual in Milwaukee. In Sacramento, the Rev. Bob Wolfe, conducted an MCC memorial service June 27, attended by 40 people, according to the Rev. Freda Smith, assistant pastor of the Sacramento MCC. She said the theme of the service was “that we don’t understand everything,” but “we are so grateful that the people (who died) were with us for awhile, and we praised God for the fact that we’d had them and they were part of us all growing together. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Account of Memorials in Many Cities Description An account of the resource The August 1st edition of The Advocate includes a long article describing the memorial services held in MCC congregations and gay communities in cities all around the U.S. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Advocate, August 1, 1973. https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/d29b7d97c4c47f18848335c4f6f4c9ac.jpg a4828bacb5229008bede1f7549db757b https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/b521a5329754ddf013cea75c1cd5e2bd.jpg aba1917278f27b3b365e2c7cba4c278f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Text Any textual data included in the document New Orleans officials still silent on the fire by Bill Rushton NEW ORLEANS - The “official investigation of the Up Stairs Lounge fire continues to drag along without any announced findings, despite widely quoted evidence here about a lighter fluid can being found in the stairway of the bar. “They’re keeping lid on things.“ said a New Orleans Fire Department spokesman,.“ until they have definite conclusions.” Participating in the investigation are the Fire Prevention Division of the NOFD, the state fire marshall, and the New Orleans Police Department. Meanwhile, seven survivors remain hospitalized, most of them in serious condition, at six hospitals in three states. Lucien Baril, worship coordinator for the Metropolitan Community Church here, and a spokesman for the newly formed Gay People’s Coalition (GPC), says cards, money, and blood are still needed. The survivors, their locations, and condition: Sidney Espanche: Southern Baptist Hospital, New Orleans, satisfactory. Espanche comes from suburban New Orleans, lost a companion in the fire. He is expected to leave the hospital within one month. Eugene “Earl” Thomas: Gulfport Memorial Hospital, Gulfport, Miss.: fair. Thomas’ family is from Gulfport, and he is with his companion in the hospital. Thomas, who is 42, suffered third-degree burns over 90 percent of his back. Fred Ohway: Gulfport Memorial Hospital, Gulfport, Miss.: fair. Progressing well in spite of third-degree burns over 90 per cent of one arm. He is 22. Jean Gosnell, U.S. Public Service Hospital, New Orleans: serious. Girlfriend of one of the victims of the fire, she has one son in New Orleans and is in the most serious condition of all the survivors, Cards and letters, particularly from women, are especially needed, She is 36. Eddie Gillis: Veterans Hospital, Boston, Mass; grave condition. Gillis; family is from Boston and his ‘future’ prospects are rated “fair.” He is 52. Roger “Dale” Dunn: West Jefferson Hospital, Grepta, La.: fair. His parents are keeping him in seclusion, without visitors, and his future prospects are termed fair. He is 26. Michael Scarborough: Our Lady of the lakes Hospital, Baton Rouge, La., serious. Scarborough’s family is from Baton Rouge and he lost his companion in the fire. He is 27. The newly-organized GPC is meeting weekly now, with a core group f about 40 ad a variety of projects planned or under way, Active projects include a gay men’s VD clinic opened July 27; a political push to have the city government’s Human Relation Committee establish a “Gay task force” for future emergencies, and establishment of an office at 1375 Magazine Street, new Orleans, 70130. Coming soon are a gay switchboard, a newsletter-guide, an alcoholics anonymous group, and counseling services for both men and women participating, with hopes that a strong Gay Liberation movement can be generated here in the aftermath of the Up Stairs tragedy. Meanwhile, the gay community here has been caught up in a bizarre episode of rumors involving a police search for a specific arson suspect. The rumors – some of which originated with “unofficial sources” inside the NOPD – centered on a short and slightly built Latin-American. The rumors spread and multiplied through the French Quarter bars and Laundromats toward the end of July, leading to fears that vigilante action might be taken against innocent persons, and ultimately led to a GPC special committee on the matter, which met with police officials and issued a rumor control statement pasted on French Quarter walls. “All these rumors are absolutely false, to the best of our knowledge and we will keep you informed of future developments,” pledged the GPC rumor control bulletin. NATIONAL OUTPOURING Aid mounts for New Orleans Response from across the country to the June 24 fire which claimed 32 lives at the Up Stairs Lounge in New Orleans continues to grow, with efforts under way in most cities to raise more money and blood for those affected by the fire. A remarkably successful fundraiser was held July 12 at the Warehouse VII bar in Miami, where a show by a sizable entourage of top female impersonators raised over $2500. A tour of major cities by Morty Manford, special delegate to the New York Gay Activists Alliance to the New Orleans Emergency Task Force, is also expected to greatly aid fund-raising efforts in Denver, Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia, New York, ad New England, At the Miami benefit, organized by tiffany Jones, headliner at the Warehouse VIII, 300 turned out forte the sellout house. The Rev. Troy Perry, moderator of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, was among the featured guests. Included in the show were Dee Connors and the Femme Jesters, appearing at the Carib Hotel in Miami Beach; Emore, the 1973 Miss Gay Florida; ‘Tiffany Jones’ “Les Girls” review, including Adrian St. Clair, Daphne Delight aand Scaggnolia the Great. Little Lil. From Patsy’s did a comedy routing. Torchy Love, whose bar burned in April, made the first public appearance since the fire, and Big David, who is appearing at the Bayou Landing in Dallas, flew in for an appearance. Norby, an impressionist, performed, as did Ambrosia Crawford. Formerly of the Warehouse VIII, Camille, Sugar, Alicia, Tracy Leigh, Crickett Blake, Jan Button, and Rick Rivera. Major donations made a good part of the funds raised, which reportedly included $1000 from Rheims Mainer and Bob Stickney of the Warehouse VIII and the show’s cast; $500 from Jack Campbell of the nationwide Club Baths chain, headquartered in Miami; $200 from the Miami Gay Alliance; $100 from Ron of the Bachelors II and Bachelors West; $50 from the Femme Jesters; and $50 from Malcolm of the Nook Bar. The MCC Study Group of Jacksonville, Fla. raised $405 for the memorial fund, including $100.62 from patrons of the Commodore Lounge; $35 from the owner and patrons of the Little Dude Tavern; $61.43 from the study group; and other donations, plus $192.46 from a benefit. The benefit was a show at the Commodore Lounge emceed by the club’s manager, Bobby Gee, Female impersonator Sandy Howard donated over $35 in tips. Manford, who stayed behind in New Orleans with the Rev. Paul Breton, Northwest District coordinator for the MCC, when other leaders left the week of the fire, is one of the trustees of the National New Orleans Memorial Fund. Other trustees and officers of the fund include Mr. Breton; Mr. Perry; Morris Kight, board president of the Gay community Services Center, Los Angeles; Lucien Baril, worship coordinator, MCC of New Orleans; Dick Michaels, publisher of the Advocate; and the Rev. John Gill, Southwest District Coordinator for MCC. Two nonvoting officers for the fund have also been named; Ken Bartley, administrative director of the GCSC, as treasurer; and Jack Monroe, CPA, as auditor for the fund. The Advocate has received $4920.36 by press time July 26, which includes $1439.75 reported July 13. There is no doubt that the fire has had great ramifications in gay consciousness in the Deep South city. Mr. Baril said the ADVOCATE disappeared immediately after it went on sale, despite the fact that 200 extra copies were shipped to the New Orleans distributor. ADVOCATE sales are often a thermometer of local gay activism. Baril reported that one almost had to “pitch a tent” in front of a bookstore to get a copy of the latest issue. We have a New Orleans Gay Peoples Coalition,” Mr. Baril noted. “It’s pretty much a cross-current of all the various life-styles in the community. Everywhere from the church, which is taking an active part in it, to the Marxist women’s groups. It’s going over pretty well, we’re gaining strength and gaining acceptance.” “I’m one of the two spokespersons for the coalition and I’ve got letters on my desk from television stations wanting us for talk shows, which is something that you just didn’t consider before.” Mr. Baril reported being concerned about stories reaching New Orleans on the activities of San Francisco street minister, the Rev. Ray Broshears, who has denounced the ADVOCATE-administered fire fund as being a “rip-off” of the gay community. “I talked to Morris Kight, the other night. He briefly mentioned that there was a good bit of talk in San Francisco that this was just a chance to rip off the gay community, “Mr. Baril reported. Mr. Broshears said he was very distrustful of the fund’s administrators, singling out Kight, Mr. Perry, and Michaels, and saying that the treasurer, Bartley, had “sticky fingers.” The Tenderloin minister said that he had not been able to learn the names of victims still hospitalized and waited to be certain that any funds raised went to the victims, rather than the GCSC, ADVOCATE, of MCC – all of which he distrusts to varying degrees. Despite his statements opposing the funds, however, Mr. Broshears said that he had plans for fundraisers, and would probably disperse the funds directly in New Orleans . “We want the names, he particulars of how bad they are burned; we want to know how to locate them, what hospitals – some of them are out of hospitals. We’d like to take a personal interest in each and everyone, and we would like to co-sponsor them. Morris is against this sponsorship idea – but the POW-MIA thing was a very good thing, and this is what we would like to do, and I think it’s very healthy, and I think it’s very good.” “Should the situation be such that their metal state and their emotional state – I’m sure, in working with burn victims over the years, I know some of them just go bananas, speaking realistically – would be such that they could not remain in New Orleans, and we would possibly want to sponsor one or two of them to come and live here in San Francisco, All we are asking is for some plain truth.” Other organizations, however, have continued to channel funds through the National New Orleans Memorial Fund. The San Jose MCC donated $276, Philadelphia MCC gave $121.81, New York MCC sent $137, Oklahoma City MCC donated $30.80, and Boston MCC sent $20. Those monies are in addition to the funds reported in Issue 117 of the ADVOCATE. Plans have made for a big benefit party at the Trip lounge, 27 E. Ohio, in Chicago on August 18, The Trip, one of Chicago’s best-established gay bars, will be turned over to the benefit at 8PM, before the peak of the usual land-office Saturday night business. Additionally, monies have been sent directly to New Orleans from Miami and Washington D.C. MCC’s, as well as other organizations. The only dispersal from the fund up to July 26 was $200 to establish an account in New Orleans to deal with day-to-day emergencies. Additionally, $1000 has been dispersed in New Orleans from contributions made before the National New Orleans Memorial Fund was set up. Most of that money – went to pay hotel bills for gay leaders who flew to New Orleans after the fire, Mr. Baril said. Mr. Perry said that the money for the hotel bills came from MCC’s Miami congregation, noting, “the money was well spent. We managed it as best as we could. We had to have a place so we could have telephone service, which we did. The hotel was very nice and very good, We had to have two separate rooms for that many people to sleep, too….that was supplied by the Miami congregation of our church. We praise the Lord for that.” Kight noted that the leaders who originally went to New Orleans, which he calls the National New Orleans Emergency Task Force, “went into New Orleans, turned potential vigilante action into concern, turned apathy into compassion, turned anti-gay feelings into mass social concern. To be able to do that, the people coming there had to have enormous amounts of confidence and trust from the communities from which they came.” “We had to use our good offices to appeal to the overground media of the South to understand what if was all about. To do that, we simply had to have a base of operation, and that had to be a quick and efficient one. We had little money. I used my airline ticket that took me to New York, which had been contributed by friends ….to bring me and Morty Manford to New Orleans. We had $6 left when we got there.” The extent of the response to the call for blood for the victims has yet to be established, Mr. Baril reported. The collection, being channeled through Charity Hospital in New Orleans, will not be totaled until August 1, Mr. Baril said. But he reported that the hospital’s administrator said he had not heard of a response so successful before. Blood donation efforts are in full swing in Los Angeles and many other cities. Bartender, Eddie Storcz of the Brass Rail in San Diego, a contender for Emperor I in San Diego, has organized a blood drive which was set to begin July 30 and was to run for three weeks with a goal of 600 pints. In Los Angeles, a very aggressive blood campaign has been mounted by the bars. If a person donates a pint of blood at any one of three designated Red Cross centers, designating it for MCC of Los Angeles, and gets a receipt for the blood, he can take the receipt for a free drink at 34 participating Los Angeles gay bars. If the donor is into bar-hopping this means a free drink at 34 participating Los Angeles area gay bars – resulting in a sizable amount of alcohol. Te drive, organized by Buddy, manager of Ken’s River club, has already been quite successful according to the local bar owners and managers. Alan Steward, Emperor I, de South Bay, said that a blood drive had also been launched in the Inglewood, Calif. Area, which had gathered some 23 pints of blood by July 19. A blood donation effort has also been mounted in Denver, following the appearance of Manford there. The Denver meeting was attended by 35 representatives of various gay organizations, sponsored by the Denver Gay Coalition. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Support Grows for Memorial Fund Description An account of the resource The August 15th edition of The Advocate includes a detailed account of events around the U.S. raising funds for the New Orleans Memorial Fund as well as the slow progress of the official investigation. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Source: The Advocate, August 15, 1973. https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/2055033c93fcd34aae66a539b43d732f.jpg 619a019842aa5abadc8581a7499faeec Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Book An external reference to a published book. URL <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Afraid-Anymore-Metropolitan-Community/dp/0312069545" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Afraid-Anymore-Metropolitan-Community/dp/0312069545</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Don’t Be Afraid Anymore by Troy Perry Description An account of the resource This book by UFMCC founder and long-time moderator Troy Perry includes his recollections of being in New Orleans following the fire. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived St. Martin’s Press: 1990; pp. 76-101 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/01e2e6b1ba8c3384f7197a394f1b8cf9.jpg 22dae7b2974be3f6654532567c997dc0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Book An external reference to a published book. URL <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Out-For-Good-Struggle-Movement/dp/0684867435" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Out-For-Good-Struggle-Movement/dp/0684867435</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource “New Orleans: Fire Upstairs” in Out for Good: The Struggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement in America by Dudley Clendinen & Adam Nagourney. Description An account of the resource This detailed account of the early years of the political movement for LGBT rights—1969 to 1980—includes a chapter on the beginnings of MCC and how Troy Perry and other MCC leaders responded to the Upstairs Lounge tragedy. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Simon & Schuster, 1999; pp. 174-87 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/638bd562dd4927b6714db13731023353.jpg a8fc10d8acb5a6d7ea90be8994efbf8c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Book An external reference to a published book. URL <a href="http://www.amazon.com/LET-THE-FAGGOTS-BURN-UpStairs/dp/1614344531" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/LET-THE-FAGGOTS-BURN-UpStairs/dp/1614344531</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Let The Faggots Burn: The Upstairs Lounge Fire by Johnny Townsend. Description An account of the resource New Orleans activist and writer Townsend interviews a large number of survivors and other persons associated with the Upstairs Lounge tragedy to produce this anecdotal account of the persons who were involved in and effected by this catastrophe. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Booklocker.com: 2011 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/012e379e1d988b1c1032382fbe78bde5.jpg b259c37d72b3568fdfcb8918eb7de0c6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Text Any textual data included in the document Death Still Lurks Any major fire where there are many lives lost, like the New Orleans tragedy, inevitably sets people to thinking about their own safety in places that they frequent. And not without cause. Many businesses are in old buildings never meant for the purposes they are now serving. Many have undergone “remodeling” that has obscured or completely covered exits. Many are so carelessly run that stacks of beer cases and other junk permanently obstructs exits. Some very popular bars are regularly overcrowded far beyond the danger point, the owners being unwilling to give up even a few bucks for the safety of their patrons—who are really the owners’ meal tickets. The editor of this newspaper and a friend, not very long ago, went one Saturday in Los Angeles to a new, very popular gay dance hall that also has a lounge with entertainment. The place was jammed and they were still letting people in—at a buck a head. We squirmed through the lobby area and forced our way into the dance area. The large dance floor was packed; the area surrounding the floor was packed. We threaded our way through a mass of people and back to the lobby area. People were still being admitted—at a buck a head. We finally located the nightclub-lounge portion of the premises, squeezed past people filling the stairs down into it, forced our way to the bar, had a beer and bulldozed our way out of the building. They were still letting people in—at a buck a head. Some people might say, “Sounds like fun!” We thought, even months before the lesson in New Orleans, that if there were a fire or other emergency in that place, hundreds would die. We have not gone back to that establishment since. The best line of defense are the patrons of each establishment. Look around the next time you go into your favorite gay bistro, especially if it is a popular, crowded one. Are exits clearly marked; are they unobstructed and unlocked; are there enough of them for the size of the place? Are there inflammable decorations hanging everywhere? If you see anything that looks dangerous to you, send the owner a short letter; give him a chance to correct the situation; tell him you will inform the fire department if he doesn’t. And if he persists and doesn’t care about your safety, you don’t care to spend your money there! Owners and managers of bars, clubs and baths, for their part, should immediately inspect their premises for any dangerous conditions or deficiencies and should correct any that are found without delay. It is just good sense. It is only common decency. It is the very least we can learn from the deaths in New Orleans. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Fire Safety Concerns in Gay Clubs Description An account of the resource During its reporting on the Upstairs Lounge Fire, the national gay newsmagazine, The Advocate, publishes an editorial noting potential fire dangers in many gay bars, clubs and bathhouses. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Advocate, August 1, 1973 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/185fc50d6fa47875421c3f0b87f51fbf.jpg c909f10c537f690e92af05a9e8c978aa https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/190b09e07018d386092728eb69b8287f.jpg e50d4d7ee26918d19547a63ba128f038 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Text Any textual data included in the document August 15, 1973 TO: Member & Delegates in Assembly Fourth Annual General Conference of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches Brothers & Sisters, greetings in Christ’s name: The intent and purpose of the presentation of this white paper is to give an accounting of the “State of the Church.” This document will be made available to official delegates and pastors upon registration for the Conference, and will be presented as the first piece of official business following roll-call and the seating of delegates. In this document, you will be apprised of the actions of the Board of Elders, the Committee on Evangelism and World Missions, and of the various Districts during the fiscal year, September, 1972 through August, 1973. Included in the report will be summaries of activity by the Moderator, Vice Moderator, Treasurer and Clerk. Further, in consideration of time economies, it will contain recommendations and resolutions for action by this Conference, which hopefully, will be considered by the Conference as approving these recommendations and actions as a single entity. Exceptions will be: Vote of renewal for the Elder eligible for consideration this year, as well as addenda relative to By-Law changes which require two-thirds vote by adoption. As we endeavor to summarize the work since our last General Conference, we could heartily agree with the sentiments expressed in the opening lines of Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities: “IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES…IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES.” Perhaps, if we were to epitomize this year past with some kind of catch phrase, we could say it was our year of growing pains! We began the year with 24 churches and 11 missions. We come into the Conference IV with 36 churches, 12 missions and 3 study groups—just one group shy of our targeted twelve. We have—largely through the efforts of the Board of Evangelism and Missions—finally begun to make inroads into the middlewestern heartland of this country. Through grievous processes we saw the separation from the Fellowship of 1 church and 2 missions; namely Denver, Colorado Springs and Austin. Naturally, any parent dislikes being separated from children; but we are mindful of the trials and tribulations of the early Christian Churches. We might not be blessed with Paul’s 13 Epistles if all had proceeded smoothly and well in the early church. Almost daily, we remind ourselves that in dealings with one another, we must consider Faith, Hope, Love as our guidelines. We can state emphatically that your Board of Elders has never worked more diligently, traveled more miles, compiled more files or correspondence than has been attested in this past year. On the positive side we saw in 1972 the institutions of our Pastor’s Conferences—East and West, the transition from Mission to Church on the part of many congregations, and reality in our Continental and European endeavors with a church in London, England as well as Toronto, Ontario. 1973 was also, infortunately, the year of the Refiner’s Fire. We were sorely tried by the torch, as fire destroyed the church in Los Angeles (not once, but twice), the meeting place which housed our Nashville mission, our San Francisco Church (Community center early in the year and the rented sanctuary just this past month, and the tragic fire which wiped out almost 1/3 of our New Orleans congregation, including the pastor. Although we have been tried—we were not found wanting! We have not been without problems in other areas. Yet—the Lord has seen fit to bless and prosper our work. He has also made us full aware that we are still representative of a persecuted minority. Although we may proudly point to the hundreds we have brought into communion with God through our combined efforts, we must needs looks to the tens of thousands who need to know of God’s Love and Care. In light of what has or has not happened on the religious and social fronts, we are well to be admonished: “Work for the Night is Coming!” Represented at this Fourth General Conference are the following churches with official representation and Missions with observer status: (Note: these are based upon available statistics at the writing of this report.) Atlanta, Ga. 111 2 delegates 1 pastor Rev. John Gill Boston, Mass. 51 1 delegate 1 pastor Rev. Larry Bernier Chicago, Ill. 75 1 delegate 1 pastor Rev. Arthur Green Costa Mesa, Calif. 45 1 delegate 1 pastor Rev. Rodger Harrison Dallas, Tex. 114 2 delegates 1 pastor Rev. Richard Vincent Fort Lauderdale, Fla, 35 1 delegate 1 pastor Rev. Don Hoffman Fort Worth, Tex. 30 1 delegate 1 pastor Rev. David Carden Fresno, Calif. 30 1 delegate 1 pastor Rev. Ray Cook Honolulu, Hawaii 45 1 delegate 1 pastor Rev. Jack Isbell Long Beach, Cal. 120 2 delegates 2 pastors Rev. Robert Cunningham Rev. Shawn Farrell Los Angeles, Ca. 621 7 delegates 8 pastors Rev. Troy D. Perry Rev. Kenneth Jones Rev. Lee Carlton Rev. Paul VanHeck Rev. Richard Ploen Rev. Lee Spangenberg Rev. Louis Loynes Rev. June Norris Miami, Fla. 90 1 delegate 1 pastor Rev. Keith Davis New York, N.Y. 35 1 delegate 2 pastors Rev. Roy Birchard Rev. Howard Wells Oakland, Cal. 35 1 delegate 1 pastor Rev. Peter Wilson Oklahoma City, Ok. 40 1 delegate 1 pastor Rev. Robert Falls Philadelphia, Pa. 102 2 delegates 1 pastor Rev. Jay Neely Phoenix, Ariz. 70 1 delegate 2 pastors Rev. Joseph Gilbert Rev. Beau McDaniels Providence, R.I. 45 1 delegate 1 pastor Rev. Arthur Cazeault Sacramento, Calif. 35 1 delegate 2 pastors Rev. Freda Smith Rev. Tom Taylor Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource MCC State of the Church Report Includes Fire Description An account of the resource The annual State of the Church Report presented to the MCC General Conference in August 1973 calls the year one of “Refiner’s Fire” as it noted fires in several MCC congregations in addition to the Upstairs Lounge fire. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Roy Birchard Collection, CLGS Archives, Berkeley, Calif. https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/f424835f9046da774b11fc7c55961300.jpg bc522c09bb2bfca25c2f9c42d52c6f9a https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/23c7aa1da8e0e3c1f0491d9de18818fd.jpg ad35a1808e92f964a75b617be5d3e4fb https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/f6ae637b821b0294cb0c40dd359ede3f.jpg da248a3b37d83566c113b3a94de949f2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Text Any textual data included in the document FIRE! BY MIKE NEWTON Sirens roaring past my home in the early hours of the morning woke me up. Usually, I never even noticed them. This time though, it seemed like they just kept on passing, one after the other> Probably a false alarm as usual, I thought to myself, turned over and fell asleep once again, my head buried in the pillow to try and drown out their screams. The next morning a friend called me at work and asked if I’d heard about the big fire at Tiffiny’s, it was then I remembered the sirens from the night before, and realized now where the fire engines had been destined. Early that same evening I walked over to the building where the bar-restaurant had been located and stood the, stunned, as I surveyed the damage. Seeing the seven-story apartment building with its gutted windows, the walls charred and blackened from the smoke and fired damage, boarded up windows where once hung live plants, reminded me of an article I’d spent many angry hours writing and re-writing back in June last year. I’d never submitted the story and now I was suddenly sorry that I’d not done so. In much the same complacency as I’d put the sounds of the sirens out of my mind, I had let my anger subside burying it in the pillows of my mind to file and forget Tiffany’s was the result of an investment by two gay women in our community, to offer a place for the rest of us to at, morning, afternoon, and evening. In the very popular contemporary style of the day, the restaurant and bar was decorated with much wood, brick, and a good deal of plant life. Lighting was very soft, making the restaurant comfortable and intimate, through the windows surrounding two sides of the restaurant one could watch the busy stream of traffic passing by on Market Street. Exactly how the fire began, I don’t know – it may have been accidental or it might have been arson – I don’t really know and I don’t really care, That it happened at all is what bothers me. The bar-restaurant must have been consumed as quickly s the logs were being thrown into fireplaces around the City, the cold past few days, The apartments upstairs of the restaurant fell victim to the flames as well. All that hour of the morning the panic in those living quarters must have been unbelievable. With smoke filling the halls and flames leaping up through the floors, the people must have fled leaving their dearest possessions to perish in flames, but the panic…the panic! And then I thought of New Orleans, June, 1973 and remembered a photograph. He was just another human being on this planet – but no, actually he was a gay brother, (as were almost all of them), and that made me feel a bond existed between us. We shared some of the oppressive repression common to us all. He was rapped, his body, half in –half out of the window, one arm extended, reaching out to escape the terror of those frightening moments of his earthly existence as the heat, smoke and flames, took him from us. With a group of friends, he had come here following services at the local M.C.C. to socialize – here to this Godawful firetrap that had, in some strange way, passed inspection by the local fire department. I continued staring at the now-boarded-up windows, and I thought about the photograph again, and wondered – Will it will happen again – and if it does, how many of my gay brothers and sisters will sacrifice their lives? No different from other cities in the United States, San Francisco’s gay meeting places - the bars, baths, and restaurants – vary from the other only by their décor and clientele - elegant to grand funk. Saturday nights, the most sociable night of the week, some of these places are filled wall to wall with bodies, the atmosphere friendly, the hum of the voices drowned out by an often over-loud juke box. “Fire!” someone shouts. The extent, the source of which, the reality, is never questioned, those nearest to this modern-day Paul Revere shouting his ominous message, quickly look about for the nearest exit, and discover, much to their horror, that there seems to be only one – and it located at the opposite end of the bar, at the other side of the sea of bodies. They begin to push their way past the bodies surrounding the, heading for the doorway. The other customers something is wrong and they too, panic. Now everyone is headed for the one door out – and there is no displacement. Everyone has replaced courtesy with panic as they climb over a pool table here, a fallen bar stool there, pinning one another to pillars and partitions that had somehow hitherto gone unnoticed. The smell of smoke begins to fill the atmosphere, and now, for the first time, flames can be seen climbing up the far wall. The wall had been covered with posters, and they too catch flame, igniting the numerous bits of decorative bric-a-brac hanging from the ceiling. Flames race across the ceiling and bits and pieces fall in flames down on the heads of the struggling patrons, all headed for the exit of this now suddenly not-so-fun place. The bartenders scream, “Don’t panic! Don’t panic!” to no avail, as customers pin themselves at the exit. The set of double-doors, one of which is locked into place, allows only two people out at a time, and no- one thinks to back away so the other door can be unlocked. Nobody has thought to call the fire department or use the extinguisher that hang on the wall, When the fire department finally does arrive, the scene ain’t pretty. Who’s to blame? We think to ourselves it might’ve happened anywhere. That it is a gay bar makes it no different than any other, but that the victims were our brothers or sisters suddenly brings us a lot closer to the situation. Like lemmings headed to the sea, we patronize these bars and restaurants, the baths; some of hem out and out firetraps. The owners, absentee landlords sometimes, other conglomerates who have never even seen the property they own, are to blame as much as the customers who support them. The managers are all too often more concerned with the sound of the cash register than the potential sound of sirens. But it isn’t my intention to point fingers – I could probably do that all day. In San Francisco, at least one of the baths, one church, and several bars had fires in 1973. (One of these bars had not one, but three fires one each on a separate occasion!) Fortunately, in none of these instances, was anyone injured. Whether it’s arson, or accident, we cannot afford tragedies of this sort. The economic loss (even though businesses are insured) and the potential loss of life is a situation we must prevent. I’ve thought often about many of the places I myself patronize, and how unsafe some of them appear to be. Fire doors, both of which are unlocked and within easy reach by patrons, fire extinguishers or an overhead sprinkler system, unblocked passage through the bar (unhindered by cute dividing partitions), pool tables, wall and ceiling uncovered with flammable materials, decorations or bric-a-brac, well-indicated exits –all things I’ve been looking out for, but see all too seldom. There is only one bar I know of that has almost all of these safety requirements. For the most part it takes just a little common sense on the part of management to acquire them. In some cases, simply cleaning up the bar would do the job. Would you believe that in one bath I saw an exit door nailed shut? In a restaurant, enough candles and wood and fabric hanging all over the place to create human oven in just a few seconds. In a bar a lock and a chain preventing egress through a fire exit. It doesn’t require an inspection by the fire department to clean our own houses. Simply common sense. Even more necessary these days though because of the numbers of not-too-well-balanced sick cookies roaming about playing God with matches and gasoline. And tomorrow, after they’ve read this, the manager and owners of those unsafe bars, bath, and restaurants will hate me for bringing something like this out into the open. Whether they do anything about it remains to be seen. The day after that, everyone will have forgotten this article. And me - standing there looking at the boarded up windows of what once was Tiffiny’s and thinking about that photograph in the Advocate – I’m afraid, for all of us. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Fire! by Mike Newton Description An account of the resource The February 1974 issue of the journal of the Society for Individual Rights, leading LGBT activist group in San Francisco at the time, publishes an article warning of fire safety dangers in gay establishments. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Vector, volume 10, number 2 February 1974. https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/7bb87d0dca1e4298410214035028c387.pdf b24cc6f64d8167b99237421d87f8547d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource “Thieves, Queers and Fruit Jars: The Community and Media Responses to the Fire at the Upstairs Lounge” by Clayton Delery Description An account of the resource Dr. Clayton Delery, a Louisiana native and professor at The Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, has recently written this essay comparing the response of New Orleans city and religious leaders to the Rault Center fire in November 1972 with the response to the Upstairs Lounge fire. He unabashedly points out the disdain with which homosexual persons were treated at the time. Delery is working on a book on the Upstairs Lounge fire. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Used by permission of Clayton Delery.