Rise of the Pink Ladies was nominated for choreography Emmy this week. You cannot legally watch an Emmy-nominated show because god forbid the studio has to pay workers for it—that’s the state of the industry with streaming right now. That’s why SAG and the WGA are striking.
On this day, 24 June 1973, an arsonist ignited a fire that engulfed the LGBT+ bar called the Up Stairs Lounge in New Orleans, killing 32 people and injuring 15. The fire was the deadliest attack on a gay bar in American history prior to the 2016 Pulse Nightclub Massacre.
In a city where LGBT+ culture was largely hidden, the Up Stairs Lounge was one of the few establishments catering to the gay community and one of the only gay bars that welcomed Black men and lesbians. On the fourth anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, patrons assembled at the bar for the weekly beer bust. Sixty-five people remained when Bartender Buddy Rasmussen heard the doorbell ring and asked friend Luther Boggs to answer it. As Luther opened the door, flames rushed into the lounge. Buddy led 20 survivors onto the roof of a nearby building while others unsuccessfully attempted to escape through barred windows. The fire department arrived at 7:58 and extinguished the fire quickly, but the powerful flames had already overpowered many patrons. Among the victims were 12 members of Metropolitan Community Church, the first church serving LGBT+ individuals. They included Rev. William “Bill” Larson, associate pastor Duane “Mitch” Mitchell, and Mitch’s boyfriend Horace Broussard.
Unlike other tragedies, the Up Stairs fire did not amass community support. Although newspapers reported the fire, journalists enflamed anti-gay sentiment by perpetuating vulgar rhetoric and harmful stereotypes. Articles painted the victims as “thieves, burglars, and queers,” while other reports named the tragedy a “fruit fry.” Eyewitnesses told author Johnny Townsend that they overheard either police or firefighters saying: “Let the f*****s burn”.
No formal memorials were planned, and churches refused to provide services. This reaction galvanised the New Orleans’ LGBT+ community to organise for gay rights as they mourned those who died in the tragic fire. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=649971757176043&set=a.602588028581083&type=3
The cover tells you what you need to know. Depraved inversion.
Seduction. Lascivious butches and big-breasted seductresses. Love that dare not speak its name.
There are censors to get past, so tragedy is a foregone conclu-sion. It was written into the DNA of the Dream House, maybe even back when it was just a house, maybe even back when it was just Bloomington, Indiana, or just the Northwest Territory, or just the still-uncolonized Miami Nation. Or before humans existed there at all, and it was just raw, anonymous land.
You wonder it, at any point in history, some creature scuttled over what would, cons later, be the living room, and cocked its head to the side to listen to the faintest of sounds: yelling, weeping.
