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The Deadliest Attack on Gays Before Orlando Was Treated Like a Joke

GRIM HISTORY

The 1973 arson of the UpStairs Lounge in New Orleans was the deadliest day for LGBT people in America until the massacre at Pulse.

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Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast

NEW ORLEANS — “Where do you bury the ashes?” the joke started.

“In the fruit jar.”

“Did you hear about the weenie roast?” went another.

They were jokes made in response to what was the deadliest attack on gays in American history until the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando last week: the UpStairs...

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