"CLOUD OF WITNESSES" - UPSTAIRS LOUNGE FIRE

Fr Bill Richardson

From Walking With Integrity:

On June 22nd, Integrity New Orleans held a memorial service at St. George's Episcopal Church in that city, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of a fire at the UpStairs Lounge, a gay bar in the French Quarter which also served as the home of the local Metropolitan Community Church, a protestant denomination founded specifically to minister to the LGBT community.

Thirty-two people were killed in the fire, three of whom were never identified. The bar was located on the second floor.  
....

Especially remembered at the service, celebrated by the Rev. Richard Easterling, was the Rev. William P. "Bill" Richardson.  Richardson, who was rector of St. George's from 1953-1976, held a similar service the in the days after the fire, in defiance of his own bishop (the Right Rev. Iveson Noland) and other clergy who refused to permit their churches to be used or provide any other pastoral response.

Another fine article in remembrance of the UpStairs Lounge Fire. 

UPSTAIRS LOUNGE FIRE MEMORIAL SERVICE - 40 YEARS AGO TODAY

 

On Saturday afternoon, I attended the memorial service for the people who died in the fire at the UpStairs Lounge, a gay bar in New Orleans. The cover of the service bulletin shows the names of the people who died in the fire.  The listing of  "Unknown White Man" (three in number) is especially poignant.  Fr Bill Richardson, the then rector of St George, who presided at a memorial service for the dead a short time after the tragedy, was also remembered.

Fox8 in New Orleans covered the event. (Don't turn away at the "Fox" label; the news coverage by the local station is quite different from Fox News on the cable channel.)

June 24, 1973, an arsonist set fire at the bottom of the staircase leading to the Upstairs Lounge, a known gay bar.  "The bartender at the time got 20 victims out of the back of the bar," explained Wil Coleman of Pride New Orleans Celebration.

Flames trapped patrons on the second floor.  Others could see out the windows and reach out, but they couldn't physically get out.  "The windows were all barred and people couldn't get out." said New Orleans resident Mary Christie.  "What a horrible thing, and the fact that they had no sprinkler systems," she said.

Twenty-nine people died in the fire.  Three others died later of their injuries.  The final death toll was 32.
 
The Upstairs Lounge fire was the worst fire in New Orleans, and its impact was far-reaching not only because of the tremendous loss of life in this building, but it sparked a gay rights movement in this city.
....

[Fr Richard] Easterling and others gathered for a mass at St. George's Episcopal Church uptown Saturday to remember all 32 victims, including three people who were never identified. The day after the fire on June 25, 1973, St. George's held a memorial for the survivors and loved ones when no one else would.

I agree with the writer's conclusion that the tragic deaths in the fire lit a spark to begin the movement on the local scene toward equality and justice for LGTB persons.  Fr Bill Richardson's courage in agreeing to hold the memorial service at St George Episcopal Church 40 years ago placed the Episcopal Church squarely in its midst.  Many, even those within the movement, are not aware of this pivotal event in the history of the struggle for gay rights.

I commend the station for their coverage of the 40th anniversary of the tragedy.  The video report of the Fox8 news segment may be seen at the link above. 

Last week, I put together a group of quotes about the tragedy, which includes more information.

40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UPSTAIRS LOUNGE FIRE - JUNE 24, 1973

The UpStairs Lounge arson attack occurred in 1973 at a gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States, and resulted in the deaths of 32 people due to direct immolation or inhalation of fumes. It was started with Ronsonol lighter fluid on the steps near the entrance. The most likely suspect was a man who had been thrown out of the bar earlier that day; he was never sentenced.  It was the deadliest arson attack to take place in New Orleans at that time, and one of the deadliest attacks on LGBT people in United States history.

On Sunday, June 24, 1973, the final day of Pride Weekend,^] a group of members of the Metropolitan Community Church, a pro-LGBT Protestant denomination, had held services inside the club located on the second floor of a three-story building at the corner of Chartres and Iberville Streets, after which the club had hosted free beer and dinner for 125 patrons. At the time of the evening fire, some 60 people were listening to pianist David Gary's music and discussing an upcoming MCC fundraiser for the local Crippled Children’s Hospital. The UpStairs Lounge was a temporary home of the MCC, the nation’s first gay church that had been founded in Los Angeles in 1969.

Jesus in Love Blog has a wonderful post on the the musical titled "Upstairs" written and composed by Wayne Self commemorating the tragedy.

Louisiana playwright and composer Wayne Self spent five years weaving together the stories of the UpStairs Lounge fire victims and survivors. The result is a dramatic musical that opens tomorrow (June 20) in New Orleans. He says his work takes the form “of tribute, of memorial, even of hagiography.”

The musical "Upstairs" brings back to life people such as MCC assistant pastor George “Mitch” Mitchell, who managed to escape the fire, but ran back into the burning building to save his boyfriend, Louis Broussard. Both men died in the fire. Their bodies were found clinging to one another in the ashes. In the musical, Mitchell sings a song called “I’ll Always Return”

On Saturday, I plan to attend the memorial mass at St George Episcopal Church in New Orleans, Below is the announcement from the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.

St. George's to Offer Memorial Mass to Mark 40th Anniversary of Upstairs Lounge Fire

   

On Saturday, June 22nd, at 2 PM St. George's Episcopal Church of New Orleans will offer a memorial mass marking the 40th anniversary of the tragic fire at the Upstairs Lounge. The fire claimed the lives of 32 people and left devastated those of many more in the New Orleans gay community. The liturgy is offered to the glory of God in loving memory of those who died and also in thanksgiving for Father Bill Richardson's courageous work in according to the dead a proper burial and to the living a pastoral ministry of sympathy and support.

At The Episcopal Café, Deacon Ormonde Plater, a friend of Bill Richardson, on the occasion of his death:

A Saint has died: The Rev. William P. Richardson, 98, rector of St George's, New Orleans, from 1953-1976, died peacefully last night at 10:48 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. George’s on Monday, Oct. 8, at noon.

Among the gay community in the United States, Bill Richardson is honored as a hero.

The post at the Café includes a letter from Bill Richardson to Integrity about his decision to hold the memorial service at St George.

Next morning a member of the MCC called to ask if they could have a memorial service that evening at St. George's. I agreed, providing they would not make a big splash over it. The Rev. Troy Perry [Founder and Moderator of MCC] flew in that evening and assisted with the service. Some 80-90 persons attended. I warned the TV people not to take pictures, and asked the reporters to play it low-key. They did.

Bishop Iveson B. Noland, who was later killed in a plane crash in New York, phoned me early the next morning. He said, "Bill, this is the Bishop. Have you read the morning paper?" I said, "Yes, Bishop, I have." "Is it true that the service was at St. George's Episcopal Church?" "Yes, Bishop, it was." "Why didn't they have it in their own church?" he asked. I replied, "For the simple reason their own small church holds about 18 persons. Without any publicity we had over 80 present." "What am I to say when people call my office?" I replied, "You can say anything you wish, Bishop, but do you think Jesus would have kept these people out of His church?"

I heard later the Bishop had a hundred calls, and I got hate calls and letters. Only one member of our vestry supported me. Later, I was stopped on the street by many persons thanking me for doing such a Christian thing.