NEW ORLEANS — The memories are “fuzzy.” But 50 years later, Regina Adams can still recall the day it happened.
On June 24, 1973, she and her lover Reginald Eugene Adams Jr., were at a gay bar on Iberville Street called the UpStairs Lounge.
“The more we talked,” she remembered of Reggie, “the more we fell in love.”
At some point Regina left the bar to get her checkbook. On her walk back, she heard sirens.
A fire had broken out at the bar, trapping dozens of people inside. 32 people died and 15 more were injured. Overwhelming evidence pointed to arson. The only suspect was a man named Roger Dale Nunez who had been kicked out of the bar earlier that day. He was never charged and killed himself the following year.
One of the victims was Reggie. The attack happened a month before a commitment ceremony he and Regina had planned.
“We drove to Dallas and I met his mother and father,” she recalled, “and it was a month later that I had to call and tell them that he died in the fire.”
The aftermath of the UpStairs Lounge Fire is remembered today as a tragedy in itself. The taboo surrounding LGBTQ+ people at the time pulled a curtain around the attack, depriving it of the attention it deserved. City leaders and the media largely ignored it. “I felt like we were being treated like we weren’t human beings,” said Regina, “you know, this is a bunch of animals that died, this is not important.”
In addition, most churches refused to hold services for the victims, including those in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. This was especially upsetting for Regina, as Reggie had been a Jesuit Scholar and was deeply tied to the Catholic Church. “They just turned their back on him like he was subhuman,” she said.
St. Mark’s United Methodist Church was one of the few to hold a service for the victims after the fire. Saturday, a ceremony was held there to mark 50 years since the attack. After several readings and performances from the New Orleans Gay Men’s Chorus, banners bearing the victims’ names were carried out of the building. The crowd then marched in a jazz funeral procession to the building that once held the UpStairs Lounge.
“It’s difficult for us to relive these moments in our history,” said Jimmy Gale, one of the event’s organizers. “But it’s important for us to really step up and honor our fallen so we can make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
That includes those who would otherwise be forgotten. After the fire, some of the victims’ families did not claim their bodies because they were ashamed. As a result, a few went unidentified for years, including two who have not been named to this day. At Saturday’s ceremony, one mourner held a banner for them, reading “2 Unknown White Males in Nola’s Potter’s Field.”
Regina, on the other hand, made sure Reggie's name would live on. She legally changed her name to Regina Adams to honor him.
"I was deprived of our commitment ceremony, but I was committed to carrying him with me my whole life," Regina Adams said.
There will be more panel discussions, documentary screenings, and performances this weekend to remember the UpStairs Lounge fire. You can find a list of Sunday’s events here.
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