LGBTQ history in Louisiana

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The history of LGBT residents in Louisiana, has become increasingly visible recently with the successes of the LGBT rights movement. In spite of the strong development of early LGBT villages in the state, pro-LGBT activists in Louisiana have campaigned against nearly 170 years of especially harsh prosecutions and punishments toward gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people.

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1940–1970

In 1949, the Fat Monday Luncheon, a private event for local gay men, was first held in New Orleans. The Krewe of Yuga was the first gay Carnival club in 1958, followed by the Krewe of Petronius in 1961. The Krewe of Yuga disbanded after a police raid on their fifth ball in 1962, but the Krewe of Petronius continued to hold balls. Other krewes formed despite the oppressive atmosphere, such as the Krewes of Amon-Ra, Ganymede, Armeinius, Apollo, Ishtar (the first lesbian krewe), and Olympus. [1] After the closure of a bar at the Lafitte Blacksmith Shop on Bourbon Street, gay patrons moved to a bar around the corner, known as the Cafe Lafitte in Exile, and turned the bar into the oldest gay bar in New Orleans. In 1958, a gay tour guide from Mexico City, Fernando Rios, was killed after leaving the Cafe Lafitte with John Farrell, a student at Tulane University who had intended to rob a gay man that night. In 1967, District Attorney Jim Garrison arrested Clay Shaw, a local openly homosexual businessman, and charged Shaw with conspiring to assassinate John F. Kennedy. The trial eventually acquitted Shaw.

1970s

In 1970, the Gay Liberation Front of New Orleans was formed. In 1971, members of the Front presented a "Gay In" picnic in February in City Park. It would not become openly known as a "gay pride" event until 1978, when the pride events became the annual Gay Pride New Orleans. In 1972, the Tulane University Gay Students Union was established. [2] Also in 1972, the first celebrations of Southern Decadence began with several parties encouraging guests to "Come As Your Favorite Southern Decadent." Next year began the costumed walking parade, which became the focus in 1974 with the selection of a grand marshal. Although it came from these modest beginnings, the Southern Decadence festival now covers an entire week of events, culminating with the annual parade in the French Quarter, generating millions of dollars for the city's economy. However, few remember that Decadence began with a group of straight and gay friends in the Faubourg Tremé neighborhood to celebrate the end of the long hot summers. [3]

Members of the Front also organized a local chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis as well as the first local LGBT-affirming Christian congregation, an informal meeting of the Big Easy Metropolitan Community Church, which began to meet at the UpStairs Lounge in the French Quarter. However, on June 24, 1973, an arson attack on the club which provided room for the congregation to meet ended in 32 deaths from burning and smoke inhalation. The attack, which was never officially solved by New Orleans police, was a historical marker for LGBT people in Louisiana, as memorialization of the victims by local clergy proved just as difficult as finding proper burials for the dead. In 1975, the Gertrude Stein Society was established, becoming a local nexus for future gay rights activism in Louisiana. The IMPACT newspaper (first issue, 1977) and the Faubourg Marigny Bookstore were also established in this decade. In 1978, several Tulane Law students, along with other Tulane students, created a group known as “The Lambda Forum.” While primarily a social group, the organization did hold a sanctioned forum at the Law School, discussing Gay issues. The organization was active for approximately 3 years.

1980s

In 1980, the Louisiana Lesbian and Gay Political Action Caucus (LAGPAC) was created by a group of activists committed to attaining legal and social equality for Louisiana's gender and sexual minorities. Based in Alexandria, LAGPAC was a political organization that investigated the beliefs and stances of candidates running for public office and, through mailing lists, editorials (The Voter's Guide and The Lagniappe), and phone banking, encouraged its members to vote for candidates that were supportive of the LGBTQIA community. Meanwhile, it aimed to sway the larger Louisiana population to support equality for the state's gender and sexual minorities. At its peak, LAGPAC also had chapters in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Acadiana, and influenced numerous elections. LAGPAC ceased operations in 2002, but Equality Louisiana is considered a successor of the organization. [4] In 1989, Forum for Equality, Louisiana's largest LGBT rights lobby organization, was established. Other organizations formed by alumni of the Gertrude Stein Society include the Louisiana Gay Political Action Caucus (1980), the State Gay Conference (1981), the New Orleans Gay Men's Chorus and a local chapter of P-FLAG (both in 1982), and the NO/AIDS Task Force (1983).

1990s

In 1991, the New Orleans City Council passed an anti-discrimination ordinance into law covering the sexual orientation of city workers. In 1998, this was extended to include gender expression and identity. In 1994, the New Orleans City Council passed the Forum authored and sponsored domestic partnership law, providing for registration and benefits for same gender couples seeking to be recognized as domestic partners. In 1993, the Louisiana Electorate of Gays And Lesbians (LEGAL) was founded. LEGAL was a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to the equal rights of Louisiana's lesbians and gay men. The organization, which supported a full-time lobbyist at every session of the Louisiana Legislature through 1998, was instrumental in passing the state's hate crime law, inclusive of penalty enhancements for crimes motivated by the victim's sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation [5] - the first in the Deep South - and defeating an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment. [6] The group would also bring a decade's worth of challenges to the state's sodomy law. [7] In 1997, Louisiana became the first state in the Deep South to pass a hate crimes law which covered sexual orientation. [8] That same year, New Orleans mayor Marc Morial signed into law a domestic partnerships registry for same-sex couples resident in the city and for city workers. In June 1998, as part of Pride festivities, a memorial service for the UpStairs Lounge arson was organized with a jazz funeral and a memorial plaque laid at the site of the fire.

2000s

On September 18, 2004, by a significant margin, the voters of Louisiana approved a state constitutional amendment, Louisiana Constitutional Amendment 1, that banned same-sex marriages and civil unions. The measure did not ban domestic partnerships, however. [9]

2010s

In 2011, Equality Louisiana was founded. With the support of local groups like Spectrum on LSU's campus, Capital City Alliance in Baton Rouge, People Acting for Change and Equality (PACE) in Shreveport, and Forum for Equality in New Orleans; Equality Louisiana formed to be a coalition of LGBT and allied organizations. With the concept that no single organization can move the state forward on their own, Equality Louisiana or EQLA served to coordinate statewide efforts. With an commitment to transgender inclusion, and the ability to make sure that voices from all over the state are heard, EQLA has been a leader in bringing the voices of LGBT people to the legislature. [10]

Notable LGBT Louisianans

Related Research Articles

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Decadence</span> Annual LGBT event in New Orleans, Louisiana

Southern Decadence is an annual, six-day, LGBTQ-based event held in New Orleans, Louisiana during Labor Day weekend, culminating in a parade through the French Quarter on the Sunday before Labor Day.

The origin of the LGBTQ student movement can be linked to other activist movements from the mid-20th century in the United States. The Civil Rights Movement and Second-wave feminist movement were working towards equal rights for other minority groups in the United States. Though the student movement began a few years before the Stonewall riots, the riots helped to spur the student movement to take more action in the US. Despite this, the overall view of these gay liberation student organizations received minimal attention from contemporary LGBTQ historians. This oversight stems from the idea that the organizations were founded with haste as a result of the riots. Others historians argue that this group gives too much credit to groups that disagree with some of the basic principles of activist LGBTQ organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ rights in the Bahamas</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the Bahamas have limited legal protections. While same-sex sexual activity is legal in the Bahamas, there are no laws that address discrimination in broad terms or harassment on the account of sexual orientation or gender identity, nor does it recognize same sex unions in any form, whether it be marriage or partnerships. Households headed by same-sex couples are also not eligible for any of the same rights given to opposite-sex married couples.

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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals]] in the Republic of the Philippines have faced many difficulties in their homeland, such as prejudice, violence, abuse, assault, harassment and other forms of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. Many LGBTQ Filipinos are met with mixed attitudes and reactions by their families, friends and others in their communities, as well as professionals, educators, their national public officials, politicians, attorneys and others working for the government and the rest of the general population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in the Philippines</span>

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in the Philippines are generally accepted in Filipino society, and it has been ranked among the most gay-friendly countries in Asia. It has the second highest social acceptance rate in the Asia-Pacific next to Australia, according to a Pew Research Center survey in 2013. Despite this, some discrimination still persist and LGBT people have limited LGBT-specific rights, leading some activists to characterize LGBT culture in the Philippines as "tolerated, but not accepted." Homosexuals in the Philippines are known as "bakla", though there are other terms to describe them. According to the 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey, 11 percent of sexually active Filipinos between the ages of 15 and 24 have had sex with someone of the same sex. According to Filipino poet and critic Lilia Quindoza Santiago, Filipino culture may have a more flexible concept of gender. Kasarian is defined in less binary terms than the English word; kasarian means "kind, species, or genus".

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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Cape Verde are afforded some legal protections, and Cape Verde is considered a gay tolerant country. Homosexual activity has been legal in Cape Verde since 2004. Additionally, since 2008, employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has been banned, making Cape Verde one of the few African countries to have such protections for LGBTQ people.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ rights in Mongolia</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forum for Equality</span>

Forum for Equality is a Louisiana-based statewide LGBTQ civil rights advocacy group that was founded in 1989. The major focus of this group is on the political process, in which it encourages members to participate through reminders of upcoming elections, campaigns promoting awareness of legislation that affects the LGBT community, and rallies to demonstrate popular support for LGBT civil rights. The group also works to educate the LGBT community in Louisiana about the issues that affect the community as a whole. The organization is a member of the Equality Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Kolakowski</span> American judge

Victoria Kolakowski is an American lawyer who serves as a judge of the Alameda County Superior Court since January 2011. Kolakowski is the first openly transgender person to serve as a trial court judge of general jurisdiction in the United States, the first elected to a judgeship, and the first to serve as any type of judge in California..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT employment discrimination in the United States</span>

LGBT employment discrimination in the United States is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is encompassed by the law's prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sex. Prior to the landmark cases Bostock v. Clayton County and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2020), employment protections for LGBT people were patchwork; several states and localities explicitly prohibit harassment and bias in employment decisions on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity, although some only cover public employees. Prior to the Bostock decision, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) interpreted Title VII to cover LGBT employees; the EEOC determined that transgender employees were protected under Title VII in 2012, and extended the protection to encompass sexual orientation in 2015.

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This is a timeline of notable events in the history of non-heterosexual conforming people of African ancestry, who may identify as LGBTIQGNC, men who have sex with men, or related culturally specific identities. This timeline includes events both in Africa, the Americas and Europe and in the global African diaspora, as the histories are very deeply linked.

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Howard Philips, Unveiling the Muse: The Lost History of Gay Carnival in New Orleans, 2017, (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi).
  2. ↑ "A Rich Gay Heritage". Gay New Orleans.
  3. ↑ Smith, Howard Philips and Frank Perez, Southern Decadence in New Orleans, (Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 2018).
  4. ↑ "Tulane University Howard-Tilton Memorial Library Special Collections", Accessed November 2, 2013.
  5. ↑ Tully, Carol T. "Serving Diverse Constituencies: Applying the Ecological Perspectives" "Serving Diverse Constituencies: Applying the Ecological Perspectives". Accessed October 28, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Louisiana Anti-Marriage Bill Defeated a Second Time Without a Single Vote Cast," May 8, 1997, The Queer Resources Directory. Accessed October 28, 2013.
  7. ↑ Sears, Brad "Louisiana – Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Documentation of Discrimination" . Accessed October 28, 2013.
  8. ↑ Tully, Carol T. "Serving Diverse Constituencies: Applying the Ecological Perspectives", Accessed November 1, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Same-sex marriage in Louisiana". Archived from the original on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  10. ↑ "History | Equality Louisiana". Archived from the original on 2014-03-22. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  11. ↑ "Biography for Ellen DeGeneres", IMDb , Accessed October 30, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Tony Kushner, The Art of Theater No. 16".
  13. ↑ "Brooklyn College | Don Lemon: Address; Distinguished Alumnus Award". 2011-02-19. Archived from the original on 2011-02-19. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
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