Today is the 48th anniversary of the UpStairs Lounge massacre. The UpStairs Lounge was a gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Someone set fire to the bar, and 32 people died from fire or asphyxiation.
It is believed, but not confirmed, that the arsonist was a gay man who had been kicked out of the bar. The press mainly ignored the fact that LGBTQ people were victims. Many churches refused to hold services for the dead. And some families wouldn’t reclaim the remains of their sons or brothers.
There are a number of books and documentaries about what happened at the UpStairs Lounge. Until Pulse, the UpStairs Lounge arson was the biggest mass murder of LGBTQ people in U.S. history. Rest in Power.