The patron had carried out his threat.īutler returned to find a grisly scene and a NOLA institution scorched beyond recognition.
Butler and his partner, Alfred, were at the UpStairs Lounge when a mutual friend told them he heard a drunk patron say, after getting kicked out, something along the lines of “I’ll burn this place down.” They left and went to another bar a block away, where they heard a cacophony of sirens screaming by just minutes later. Stewart Butler remembers the “total shock” of knowing that he narrowly escaped being burned to death along with 32 others by just a matter of minutes. But this wasn’t an anti-gay hate crime, at least not the kind you’re thinking of. On June 24, 1973, the UpStairs Lounge, a popular gay bar, burned to the ground. It was a warm summer night in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and a crowd of 65 mostly regulars were enjoying the laid-back comfort of their favorite bar.
