The building is home to the offices and a kitchen for The Jimani, a popular bar in New Orleans, which also occupied the building at the time of the fire. Today, a memorial plaque sits on the sidewalk in front of the building.
The victims were openly ridiculed by the media. Many citizens of New Orleans, especially the Christian community, scoffed at the attack, brushing it off as divine intervention. The police hardly investigated, and the attack remains a cold case to this day. The city of New Orleans, like most of the nation, was still very hostile towards gays at the time. The arson was the deadliest attack against the LGBTQ community until the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016. Someone set fire to the building, killing 32 people and injuring 15 others.
But on Sunday, June 24th, 1973, it all came to a tragic end. Despite the fact that the New Orleans LGBTQ community was forced to remain lowkey, the UpStairs Lounge provided hope. The MCC was the first LGBTQ church in the US. The building was also the headquarters of the New Orleans chapter of the Metropolitan Community Church, called the MCC for short. Patrons gathered at the UpStairs to drink, play piano, and enjoy drag shows. The UpStairs was a safe space where the LGBTQ community could congregate amidst the deep hatred and oppression they faced in the Christian South.
During the early 1970s, the UpStairs Lounge was a thriving gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
