It’s Pride Month, and this weekend, New Orleans has no shortage of events, including “gay ghost tours,” Black queer fests and a parade. In Baton Rouge, Pride Fest is coming on June 29, featuring a slew of performances at the Raising Cane’s River Center.
But this month also a time of remembrance for darker chapters in Louisiana’s queer history. In June of 1973, a fire at the UpStairs Lounge – a gay bar in New Orleans’ French quarter – took the lives of 32 people. It was the largest mass killing of LGBTQ people at the time. Last year, Louisiana Considered’s Alana Schreiber spoke with local historian Frank Perez about Louisiana’s queer history, and the impact and legacy of the fire. Today we give that story a second listen.
Then, we hear a series of reflections from Vincent Gloriosi Jr., the attorney who represented the victims and families seeking justice in the fire’s aftermath. His story was captured by Joe Shriner and Mark Cave, who recently spoke with Glorioso for NOLA Life Stories, a series from the Historic New Orleans Collection.
Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered is hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber; our contributing producers are Matt Bloom and Adam Vos; we receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell.
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