If we did not extend our care and condolences, I deeply apologize.” In a month that anticipates a potentially landmark Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, the apology is another sign that times are changing.Ĭlick here to read Elizabeth Dias’ full story about the fire at the Upstairs Lounge. “The church does not condone violence and hatred. The events that started the American Revolution were the meetings in homes, pubs, on street corners.”Īs the stories of a survivor who remembers that tragic night, the founder of the church whose local congregation held services in the bar and the lead police investigator on the case show, the Upstairs fire was one such event.įorty years later, the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans apologized for its silence in a statement to TIME: “In retrospect, if we did not release a statement we should have to be in solidarity with the victims and their families,” Archbishop Gregory Aymond said via email on June 17. But the movement is still relatively young in the arc of American history and as Harvey Milk once said, “A reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of a building is widely covered. Events like Stonewall have entered the canon of GLBT history, while other, equally significant moments have lingered in the background.
In this week’s magazine, TIME tells the story of the Upstairs Lounge Fire, which remains little known and even less understood despite the epic scale of the tragedy. And while all signs pointed to arson, the police investigation ran cold.
The powerful Catholic Archbishop of New Orleans at the time, Phillip Hannan, did not offer his support or sympathy to victims. Yet politicians and religious leaders were relatively silent. Dozens of transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals are murdered every year in the US, and the murder of black transgender women is especially prevalent. history until Sunday, when at least 50 people were shot and killed at an Orlando gay nightclub. Since the 1969 Stonewall riots against one of the many police raids on gay bars, there have been many more reports and instances of violence against LGBT people in the United States.
It is believed to be the largest killing of gay people in U.S. In less than 20 minutes, 32 people were killed, dozens more critically injured and the ones who managed to escape watched helplessly as friends and lovers burned to death before their eyes. “There are another 53 that are hospitalized.On June 24, 1973, a flash fire tore through a gay bar in New Orleans’ French Quarter. “We have cleared the building, and it is with great sadness that I share we have not 20 but 50 casualties in addition to the shooter,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said at a second news briefing. Authorities initially said they believed about 20 people had been killed in the shooting, but later raised that number to 50, making Sunday’s mass shooting the worst in U.S. “People on the dance floor and bar got down on the floor and some of us who were near the bar and back exit managed to go out through the outdoor area and just ran,” he commented on the club’s Facebook page.Īt a morning press conference, police called the shooting a “mass casualty event” and said it was difficult to know how many people had been killed because many of the bodies had not yet been removed from the club, The New York Times reports. Just screaming and coming out running like crazy.” Ricardo Almodovar, who said he was at Pulse, described the panic when the shooting began. “I had to run inside the store, and I saw just a lot of people screaming, crying. “It was something that I never heard before,” Jose Torres, who works across the street, told CNN. Witnesses at the scene described chaos as SWAT teams arrived and people fled bleeding from the downtown Orlando club. Nine officers confronted the gunman, who was shot and killed. “That turned into a hostage situation,” the police chief said.Īt 5 A.M., with more officers at the scene and an armored vehicle at the ready, police decided to mount a rescue operation, breaking down the door and detonating two explosives to distract the shooter. The two exchanged gunfire outside the club, and the suspect ran inside. According to police, an officer responded to reports of a shooting around 2 A.M. Hundreds of people were reportedly in the club when the gunman arrived. Pulse, which calls itself “Orlando’s Latin Hotspot,” hosts an “Upscale Latin Saturdays” party on Saturdays, according to The New York Times.