The bar's customers often put on theatrical performances, sometimes written by the wife of a customs agent who frequented the bar. Attending his funeral was 'life-changing' for Fieseler as he went from feeling that he was entirely alone to understanding that there were other gay men like him.įieseler describes in the book how the Up Stairs Lounge had a family-like atmosphere in some ways where manager Buddy Rasmussen ran a tight ship: no hustling of patrons, no sloppy drunks and no drug use.
On a personal level, writing the book was also a way to reconnect with a relative whose death had been an important turning point in Fieseler's life, a gay man who had died of AIDS when Fieseler was 13. I thought that this was this inherently important history.' Fieseler has come out with a new book 'Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation,' that details the fire and its aftermath:Īs a gay man, Fieseler said he thought he knew a lot about the gay liberation movement but then in 2013, his journalism professor ' who was from the New Orleans area ' told him about the fire: 'I was fascinated and compelled. Within minutes, the flames engulfed the bar, killing 32 patrons. NEW ORLEANS (AP) ' On Sunday June 24, 1973, dozens of patrons had gathered at the Up Stairs Lounge, a gay bar in New Orleans when an arsonist set fire to the building.
