The UpStairs Lounge arson attack takes place at a gay bar located on the second floor of the three-story building at 141 Chartres Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Thirty-two people die as a result of fire or smoke inhalation.
The UpStairs Lounge arson attack occurred on June 24, 1973 at a gay bar called the UpStairs (or Up Stairs) Lounge located on the second floor of the three-story building at 604 Iberville Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States. Thirty-two people died and at least fifteen were injured as a result of fire or smoke inhalation. The official cause is still listed as "undetermined origin". The primary suspect, a gay man with a history of psychiatric impairment named Roger Dale Nunez who had been ejected from the bar earlier in the day, was never charged and took his own life in November 1974. No evidence has ever been found that the arson was motivated by hatred or overt homophobia. Until the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, in which 49 people were murdered, the UpStairs Lounge arson attack was the deadliest known attack on a gay club in U.S. history.