Remembering Queer History: The Upstairs Lounge Fire

June 25, 2017 Tony ThompsonLGBTQI, Pride2 Comments

(Content Note:
This post discusses the two deadliest recorded attacks against the queer community in United States history)

What follows is a raw attempt on my part, with no practice at slam poetry.

44 years

Yesterday marked 44 years since a devastating fire erupted at The Upstairs Lounge, a popular queer gathering spot in New Orleans, Louisiana. This deliberate arson attack caused the deaths of 32 people and was the deadliest attack on the queer community in the United States until the 2016 shooting massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which saw 49 murdered and more than 50 injured. Every time I think about this deeply, massively horrific act of barbarism, I am brought to tears. I am brought to tears because

32 people died.

32 people who loved, hated, and fucked

32 people with stories of heartbreak, joy, sorrow, contentment, apathy, and compassion

32 people who ate, slept, vacationed, worked, traveled, got drunk, went to church, loved politics, hated politics, and gambled and more

32 people who were siblings and parents, extended family and friends, co-workers and acquaintances, perhaps strangers even

32 people who had hopes and dreams, skills and talents, strengths and weaknesses, character flaws and integrity

32 people were killed.

No. Actually, that’s not right.

32 people were murdered.

Murdered in one of those “god I hope I don’t die this way bc this is unbearable to even imagine” kind of ways. But I can ONLY imagine. They EXPERIENCED it. I truly hope they didn’t suffer and IF they suffered it was for a brief moment. Death by FIRE and STARVED of oxygen and poison SEEPING into your lungs? Is not…is not…is not how one should die.

And when the inferno was out?

And 32 people were dead? Hearts were open. Aid was offered. Condolences were given. Around the world people reached out and shared their candle lit grief. And their solidarity. With the 32 people whose lives were TAKEN in that fearsome. fiery. tragedy. I WISH I could say with ALL of my heart that THAT was what had occurred.

It did not.

I can not and will not. Tell such a tall tale.

There is a tale that I can tell that does not require deceit. And in this deceitless tale that I can tell,

Not 24. Not 12. Not 6. Not 3 hours went by

Before reactions were heard. Before support was offered. Before commiserations were given. Before outrage was shared. Before the “what can I do”‘s and “how can I help”‘s were asked.

And not just Orlando. Not just Florida. Not JUST the United States.

There were lit Candles in the Phillipines.

A rainbow bridge in Australia.

Unity placards in England.

Remembrance in Denmark.

Mourning in Switzerland.

Gathering in South Korea.

Homage in France.

Vigils in Berlin.

And on it went. And on it went.

And so it went around the world. Country to country. People to people. The solidarity and vigils and homages and remembrances and candles were a response. A very human response to a horrific tragedy. A very human response to a horrific tragedy that was vastly different than the one that happened 44 years ago yesterday when:

Silence was heard. Silence so loud and so powerful. Like a Silent Sonic Boom went off. So loud and so powerful was this Sonic Boom that the world was engulfed in silence.

Jokes were made that packed a punch. Oppressive punches so powerful they punched down and punched down and punched down until BAM! The Earth’s core. And then continued to punch down some more.

A fearsome fire overtook a bar. Survivors feared the fire and fought the fire and fled the fire and found that they were fired. From their jobs.

****

In the aftermath of the Upstairs Lounge, the reaction of New Orleans officials, church leaders, and civilians in the city was unsympathetic. Jokes were indeed made about some of the people killed. Churches refused to allow memorials. Family members of some of the deceased refused to collect the remains of people who up until they died in that fire, were probably family members they cared for. But for some people, finding out that a member of your family is gay is “::gasp:: HOLY FUCKBALLS! Red is black and blue is sky and and nothing makes sense any longer”. Unlike the response to the Pulse massacre last year–a response that included vigils, commiserations, remembrances, homages, and so much more. And from as far away as South Korea and Australia.

But that was not the case in NOLA. Here, it was as if the city and the religious leaders wanted nothing to do with the case. They wanted it swept under the rug. They cared more about the image of their town than finding the killer (and they never found the person, either). For all that the Upstairs Lounge fire was the deadliest attack on our community until last year, far too many people know nothing of it. They know nothing of this horrific attack or the apathetic-at-best response from the city. In what could symbolize the utter lack of concern about the fire, one of the victims, the Reverend Bill Larson, had attempted to escape, but got stuck in the iron bars around one of the windows. People on the street watched in horror as he burned alive. And the city left his body there for days. Heartless as fuck. The fact that no killer was found (despite one suspect, a gay man who had been kicked out of the bar earlier and apparently threatened retribution; the man took his own life the following year) also points to the lack of care on display by the city.

The Upstairs Lounge fire is part of USAmerican queer history. It was a devastating attack and its aftermath served as a reminder that we were viewed as subhuman deviants for whom care and compassion was in short supply. In the years since the fire, care and compassion have been found in some cases, and cultivated in other, such that the Pulse attack engendered compassion in people around the globe. Please take a few minutes to read the full details of the Upstairs Lounge fire or familiarize yourself with the names of the deceased as well as the survivors. We matter. Contrary to what NOLA officials and church officials said at the time, their lives mattered. Just as our lives matter today. We are part of the narrative of this country. Both in life and in death. We expect society as a whole to recognize that our lives matter and that we deserve liberation and equality. If we expect that in society, should we not also expect that in ourselves?

The Deceased:

Joseph Henry (Joe) Adams, 51, comptroller, Sidney Espinache’s lover
Reginald Eugene (Reggie) Adams Jr., 24, salesman
Guy David Owen Anderson, 41, researcher, visitor from Illinois
Joseph William (Bill) Bailey, 29, waiter, Clarence McCloskey’s lover
Luther Thomas Boggs, 47, computer programmer, died in hospital
Louis Horace Broussard, 26, barber, Mitch Mitchell’s lover
Hurbert Dean (Hugh) Cooley, 32, lounge bartender
Donald Walter Dunbar, 21, carpet cleaner
Adam Roland Fontenot, 32, Buddy Rasmussen’s lover
David Stuart Gary, 22, lounge pianist
Horace Winslow (Skip) Getchell, 35, freight dispatcher
John Thomas Golding Sr., 49, various careers, father
Gerald Hoyt Gordon, 37, shipping clerk
Glenn Richard (Dick) Green, 32, shipping clerk
James Walls (Jim) Hambrick, 45, salesman, died in hospital
Kenneth Paul Harrington, 48, federal lab technician
Rev. William Ros (Bill) Larson, 47, MCC pastor
Ferris Jerome LeBlanc, 50, hair dresser
Robert Keith (Bobby) Lumpkin, 29, switchman
Leon Richard Maples, 32, auto mechanic, father
George Steven (Bud) Matyi, 27, musician
Clarence Joseph McCloskey Jr., 48, sales manager, father, Bill Bailey’s lover
Duane George (Mitch) Mitchell, 31, salesman, assistant MCC pastor, Horace Broussard’s lover
Larry Dean Stratton, 25, died in hospital
Eddie Hosea Warren, 24, cook, father
James Curtis Warren, 26, carpenter
Willie Inez Whatley Warren, 59, unemployed, their mother
Dr. Perry Lane Waters Jr., 41, Jefferson Parish dentist whose x-rays identified several victims
Douglas Maxwell Williams Jr., 20, truck driver

in addition to three unidentified white males.

Known survivors

Theo Ancelet
Jessie Baker, 28, beautician
Philip Byrd, 40s, hospitalized for injuries
J. C. Carrier
Courtney Craighead, 30s
Richard Robert (Mother) Cross, 29, salesman, Dean Morris’ lover
Frank Dean, 34
Jimmy Demoll Jr., hospitalized for injuries
Francis Dufrene, 21, hospitalized for injuries
Roger Dale Dunn, 26, hospitalized for injuries
Sidney Espinache, 50, Joe Adams’ lover, hospitalized for injuries
Richard Frank (Rick) Everett, 35, computer technician
Frank Gaalema, 29, display freelancher
Edward B. (Eddie) Gillis, 52, hospitalized for injuries
Jean Cory Gosnell, 37, realtor, mother, hospitalized for injuries
James Larson
Adolph Medina, 32, wig saloon manager, hospitalized for injuries
Albert Harold (Uncle Al) Monroe, 68
Dean Morris, 37, Rick Cross’ lover
Jim Peterson, 31
Robert Thomas Price, 19, various jobs
Lindy Laurell (Rusty) Quinton, 25, welder, hospitalized for injuries
Douglas (Buddy) Rasmussen, 32, bartender
Robert (Ronnie) Rosenthal
Michael Wayne Scarborough, 27, steel worker, Glenn Green’s lover, hospitalized for injuries
Fred Scharohway, 22, Earl Thomas’ lover, hospitalized for injuries
Don Sherry
Eugene Earl Thomas 42, Fred Scharohway’s lover, hospitalized for injuries
I. R. (Bob) Vann, hospitalized for injuries
Stephen Whittaker
Peter — , bank clerk
Harry —

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Whiny gay Republican is mad he can’t be in Pride Parade

June 9, 2017 Tony Thompsonbigotry, Charlotte, Chitler, LGBT Pride, LGBTQI6 Comments

There are some things that In My Opinion just don’t pair well together.

The first thing that springs to my mind is pineapple on pizza. When I was 16, I was hired on at a pizza buffet restaurant (my first job). One of the more popular pizzas was a simple ham and pineapple pizza (some places call this a Hawaiian Pizza). Nope. None for me then. None for me now. I’m not interested in shaming anyone for their food choices. All I have to say is that I find pineapple to be deeply unappealing in smell, taste, and texture…and I like pizza. So I’m not going to marry the two of them, bc to me, that’s not a marriage made in heaven.

Another thing I’ve found I don’t like together–water, juice, or soda with dessert. Now, I’m a finicky person when it comes to desserts. I like ’em simple. I don’t eat creme brulee, hate pies (yes, I’ve heard all the jokes on that one) and cobblers, and the texture of cheesecake just does not work for me at all. I like cakes, brownies, and cookies (the occasional bread pudding is ok, but the portion size on most I’ve seen is ginormous and the sweetness level is often off the charts). These are my go-to desserts. But I can only drink them with milk. I mean, not literally. If I need something to drink, and there’s no milk, I’ll drink water or juice. Anything other than milk though, just doesn’t taste right.

The Republican Party is evil. What does that make their supporters? — (image of elephant representing the GOP. Elephant is filled in with rainbow colors to designate queer Republicans such as the Log Cabin Republicans)

There are some pairings that not only seem like a horrible fit on paper, but just make me shake my head in profound befuddlement. I’m speaking here of LGBT Republicans. That should be an oxymoron. You’d think they wouldn’t exist, right? After all, the Republican Party has, for decades, opposed efforts to improve the quality of life for QUILTBAG folks. They fought tooth and nail to prevent same-sex marriage from being legalized. They’ve supported so-called conversion therapy, which is a fancy way of saying “torturing kids into being not gay”. They’ve continually made the reality challenged assertions that gay people cannot be parents and held that children raised by gay people are at a disadvantage (in point of fact, aside from individual physiological issues, we can indeed have children and study after study has found children of same-sex couples are not at a disadvantage). Though much of the harsh rhetoric from the GOP about QUILTBAG folks has become muted over the years, there are still Republicans who make comparisons between gay people and pedophiles (as if there’s a connection between sexuality and pedophilia). Then there are the bathroom bills that states across the nation have considered in the last few years. 16 states have considered such legislation and 15 states have bills pending in legislature. These bills would restrict access to multi-user sex-segregated facilities on the basis of gender as determined at birth. Supporters argue legal protections are needed to prevent predatorial men from wearing women’s clothing and assaulting or molesting girls and women in bathrooms. Such bills are an incredible insult to transgender women. They are not predators. They are women who were assigned the incorrect gender at birth. They are using the bathrooms for the same reason cis women use restrooms. Additionally, there are already laws on the books that criminalize molestation and assault, making these bathroom bills all about one thing: discriminating against transgender women and men.

And all of that? ↑ ↑

Barely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the disdain, contempt, and outright hate that the Republican Party has exhibited towards queer people over the last few decades. From discriminatory bathroom bills to preventing gay people from adopting children, the Republican Party has long been among the loudest opponents of queer rights. So yeah, it’s somewhat confounding to me that transgender, lesbian, gay, or bisexual Republicans exist.

On an intellectual level, I know they do. I accept that human brains being what they are, indoctrination into political parties occurring the way it does (often at a young age, in a similar way to indoctrination into religion–i.e. before we develop strong critical thinking skills), and who knows how many cognitive biases and shortcuts converge in queer Republicans. Emotionally, however, it not only boggles my mind, it’s downright insulting. I find insult in the fact that these people are donating time, money, energy, and other resources into aiding a political party that wants to [at best] keep queers as second class citizens. They don’t want us to have rights like being able to marry, adopt kids, own property, or be free from discrimination in public institutions. They don’t want us in scouting organizations or in positions of religious power. They don’t want to see us doing something as innocuous as holding hands in public. In fact, they don’t need to literally say it for it to be true: the Republican Party does not want us to exist.

That fact is lost upon the Gays For Trump, a group of whiny assholes who are mad that Charlotte Pride has denied them entry into the Pride Parade:

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Trailer Thursday: Moonlight

August 26, 2016 Tony Thompsondiversity, LGBTQI, movies

You know how I recently mentioned that I was tired of the movies Hollywood puts out about black people? How I’m over movies that showcase black people suffering, or movies that show us being the help, or those movies that treat us like we’re good for little more than a few yucks? How it’s so often the same old, same old? Yeah. I’m over those. I want Hollywood to offer more diverse roles to black actors. I want to see black actors in the kind of movies that white folks receive. And while there’s a long way to go before we see any sort of parity in the movie industry in this regard, every little step does help. Steps like the upcoming film, Moonlight (debuting in theaters on Oct. 21), which features a story about black people in roles that differ from the norm; in a couple of different ways. As such, I think I’ll plunk down my hard earned cash to watch it:

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LGBT Link Round-Up 10.17.15

October 17, 2015 Tony ThompsonLGBTQI2 Comments

here are some of the informative, entertaining, and frustrating queer-centric stories I’ve discovered in my travels on the internet:

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Kim Davis is like a rock

September 9, 2015 Tony Thompsonhomophobia, Kim Davis, LGBTQI3 Comments

Kentucky clerk Kim Davis has been all over the news recently for her repeated refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Last week, Federal Judge David Bunning ruled that Davis was in contempt of court and ordered federal marshals to take her into custody. While she was in custody, five of the six deputy clerks who work under Davis agreed to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples (with the exception of, surprise surprise, Davis’ son). She remained in jail until Tuesday, when Judge Bunning ordered her conditional release:

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