The Fire Up Stairs
In the early nineteen-seventies, The Up Stairs Lounge, a little known queer oasis in the French Quarter of New Orleans, was a second home to its patrons, a place where folks felt safe and free to be themselves in a world that was rampant with discrimination. Then on the night of June 24th, 1973, someone doused the entrance of the bar in lighter fluid and lit it on fire, causing a blaze that would kill 32 people. Until the tragedy at Pulse Orlando in 2016, the fire at The Up Stairs Lounge was the single deadliest attack on the queer community in the US on record, and it remains one of the deadliest fires in modern New Orleans history. The Fire Up Stairs Podcast is a miniseries about the 1973 Up Stairs Lounge arson, exploring its lesser-known history and present-day themes. Over the course of the series, we'll be joined by notable members of the queer community to discuss the story of the Up Stairs Lounge; its role in the larger arc of queer history, and themes that are just as relevant to the queer community of today as they were fifty years ago. Guests include: drag superstar Ben DeLaCreme, journalist Robert Fieseler, HRC's Cathryn Oakley, political strategist Brian Derrick, journalist Clancy Dubos, Up Stairs Lounge survivor Ricky Everett, and documentarian Robert L. Camina. The Fire Up Stairs is produced and hosted by Joey Hardy Gray, executive produced by Ryan Killian Krause, and edited by Citizens of Sound. Presented by Equal Pride and Provincetown Brewing Co. Sponsored by Sean x Val, Malin & Goetz, Double Scorpio, and Halloween New Orleans.
Episodes
On this episode, we cover the state of the affairs for the LGBTQ+ people in the United States. What is life like for queer people in 2023 and how does that differ from life in 1973? In what ways have we made progress since the days of the Up Stairs Lounge and in what ways might we be backsliding?
To learn more, host Joey Hardy Gray chats with Cathryn Oakley, State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel at the Human Right...
For the next two episodes of The Fire Up Stairs Podcast, we'll be zooming out to discuss how the themes surrounding the events of the arson at the Up Stairs Lounge are still very much relevant today.
On this episode, host Joey Hardy Gray is joined by international drag superstar BenDeLaCreme to discuss the importance of queer spaces. The two chat about the recent drag bans popping across the country, the importance of...
On this episode, host Joey Hardy Gray talks to journalist Robert Fieseler, author of Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation. They discuss how the arson fits within the larger arc of queer history, as well as the cultural and societal climate at the time of the attack and how those factors influenced the events leading up to the fire and its aftermath.
Visit Robert's we...
On this episode, host Joey Hardy Gray shares the story of The Up Stairs Lounge: the bar, the people who called it home and what it meant to them, and that terrible Sunday night in June when it all came burning down.
Guests include: Up Stairs Lounge arson survivor Ricky Everett, journalist Clancy DuBos, and documentary filmmaker Robert L. Camina.
A podcast miniseries about the 1973 Up Stairs Lounge arson, exploring its lesser known history and present-day themes.
Over the course of the series, we'll be joined by notable members of the queer community to discuss the story of the Up Stairs Lounge; its role in the larger arc of queer history, and themes that are just as relevant to the queer community of today as they were fifty years ago.
Guests in...
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