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300 NEW ORLEANS TRICENTENNIAL 171 8 ~ 201 8 GIFT OF MR. TRACY HENDRIX / THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE While gay society had long existed in the city, it wasn’t until the early 20th century that the community began to become more public and also experience more pushback. The operators of the Lafitte Blacksmith Shop bar opened after prohibition in 1936 and welcomed gay men and women. When the owners lost their lease in 1953, they moved to the next corner at Dumaine and Bourbon streets and renamed the bar Café Lafitte in Exile. The bar is one of the lon- gest operating gay bars in the country. In the decades that followed, the com- munity became more public. Some started holding an annual Fat Monday Luncheon in 1949 and others started a gay Carnival club in 1958. But local politics and officials, includ- ing District Attorney Jim Garrison, prevented the groups from becoming too active. The Gay Liberation movement didn’t organize until 1970, followed by the Metropolitan Com- munity Church and Daughters of Bilitis. And then, in 1973, 32 people were killed in a fire at the Upstairs Lounge, where many in the LBGT com- munity, specifically the Metropolitan Community Church, congregated. The New Orleans City Council passed a gay non-discrimination or- dinance in 1991, and in 1997, the city extended domestic partner benefits to city employees. Long confined to the shadows, the New Orleans lesbian, gay and transgender community is now an integral part of the city’s culture and life. In 1991, the New Orleans City Council passed a gay non- discrimination ordinance. From Bienville to Bourbon Street to bounce. 300 moments that make New Orleans unique. WHAT HAPPENED Cafe Lafitte in Exile where the operators of Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop moved in 1953, shown in 1955 and today. Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop bar wel- comed gay men and women after Prohibition until it lost its lease in 1953. The bar shown today and in 1938. Southern Decadence, called by some the ‘Gay Mardi Gras,’ started in New Orleans in 1972. An invitation to the 1973 Petronius Ball, one of the as many as 14 gay balls that were held in the 1970s and 1980s. The Gay Easter Parad began in 1999. The New Orleans Pride Parade is one of the fastest-growing Pride festivals in the nation.
