To the South & Back

Jul 24

Traveling on the highways has proven to be remarkably smooth, perhaps as as result Biden’s “infrastructure initiative” - unless you’re travel south through Kentucky, where they are still building.

In Alabama I introduced my sister Vanessa, to “Bucky.” Bucky’s is touted as “the Worlds Largest gas station,” boasting 100 pumps, (true -I counted) and a huge store.

I give it mixed reviews as they have some God-awful household items and trinkets.

We stopped again at Peggy Blade’s in Covington for a night to rest up from the journey. We had a long 10 days ahead of us, with three interviews spread out, and a conference on the coming weekend.

Spectrum News 1 interview

I had been contacting Spectrum News 1 through a variety of means to see if they would be interested in covering the documentary seeing as it was Pride Month. Reporter Micaela Marshalll finally got back to me while I was driving through Tennessee. We arranged a zoom interview and I got in front of the camera for a change. The segment ran a week later, and she did a really good job.

Watch it Now (2:52):

I conducted three intense but successful interviews in New Orleans

Billy Henry is a local funeral director at one of the very few homes that would take anyone who had died from AIDS.

Roberts Batson has devoted his life to political activism sparked by protesting against Anita Bryant in New Orleans.

Larry Bagneris began protesting injustice at an early age and worked tirelessly in the LGBT/AIDS community.

50th Anniversary of the Upstairs Lounge Fire Conference

I was fortuitously hired to tape the conference. It was a paying gig and Dorothy, my long-suffering spouse, was delighted to hear that there was some extra income on the horizon.

The conference started Friday evening with a conversation between two authors who had both written about the fire. Panels and discussions followed throughout the weekend, a memorial service and Jazz Funeral Parade. There have been two documentaries and an ABC “Special” on the fire. Another documentary is in the works.

See the conference sessions on YouTube

About the Fire
On June 24th, 1973, the deadliest fire in New Orleans’ history occurred in a small gay bar at 604 Iberville Street in the French Quarter. The UpStairs Lounge was a refuge of love and acceptance in the New Orleans community until, in a matter of 19 minutes, it became a symbol of tragedy and rejection. Thirty-two people perished in the fire, and the New Orleans LGBT+ community was changed forever.

At the time, local police did not consider the tragedy a top priority. One officer told a reporter, “This was, after all, a queer bar.” No elected official responded publicly to the fire. Archbishop Philip Hannan denied the victims Catholic funerals. Radio commentators joked that the victims’ remains should be buried in fruit jars. The arson at the Up Stairs Lounge remains officially unsolved despite being the deadliest crime against LGBT+ people in US history until the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando.