Rainbow Fleur De Lis

Frank Perez is cofounder and current executive director of the LGBT Archives Project of Louisiana. He is an instructor in the Office of Professional and Continuing Studies at Loyola University New Orleans, owner of Crescent City Tour Booking Agency, and columnist for Ambush Magazine and French Quarter Journal. He is author of Treasures of the Vieux Carré: Ten Self-Guided Walking Tours of the French Quarter and Political Animal: The Life and Times of Stewart Butler, the latter published by University Press of Mississippi; and coeditor of Southern Decadence in New Orleans; My Gay New Orleans: 28 Personal Reminiscences on LGBT Life in New Orleans; and In Exile: The History and Lore Surrounding New Orleans Gay Culture and Its Oldest Gay Bar.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionGay CarnivalDixie’s, Yuga, and Gay CarnivalThe Children of YugaThe Lost Krewes of Gay CarnivalMardi Gras and MythologyRemembering PolyphemusBars and Gay SpacesThe Queer Quarter: A Moveable FeastBourbon Street Gets Its First Gay BarThe Glory Days of North Rampart StreetThe Lavender Line: Jerry Menefee, St. Ann, and BourbonThe Phoenix Rises from the Ashes of Smoky MaryHIV/AIDSHow the Greed of an Insurance Company Almost Killed John EastActing Up in New OrleansNO/AIDS Task ForceProject LazarusBelle ReveArts and LettersGay Letters and DesireThe Gay Lens: Frances Benjamin Johnston and Pops WhitesellThe Gentlemanly Last Years of George DureauTennessee Williams: Out in the Quarter; In on the StageWas John Kennedy Toole Gay?A Climate of HostilityCrimes against NatureClimate of HostilityThe Persecution of Tony Bacino’s BarThe Gay Bashing Murder of Fernando RiosThe Rose Room, the Goldenrod Inn, and Police RaidsActivismActivism and InkThe Gay Liberation Front Marches on City HallAnita Bryant Comes to New OrleansThe Southeastern Conference of Lesbians and Gay MenGay Bars, Gender Discrimination, and Boycotts—1980s StyleActivistsLion in Winter: A Tribute to Stewart ButlerCourtney Sharp: Unsung Trans HeroQueer Pioneer Skip WardRemembering Charlene SchneiderGo Your Own Way: The Life of Barbara ScottOrganizationsFor the Love of Song—The New Orleans Gay Men’s ChorusJeanne Manford and New Orleans PFLAGMetropolitan Community ChurchLGBT Community Center of New OrleansThe LGBT Archives Project of Louisiana Turns a Year OldThe Up Stairs Lounge FireRemembering the Up Stairs Lounge FireThe Saga of Ferris LeBlanc’s Mortal RemainsRecently Discovered Document Sheds Light on the Aftermath of the Up Stairs Lounge FireRemembering the Rev. Bill LarsonInterest in the Up Stairs Lounge Fire at an All-Time HighSouthern DecadenceHow Labor Day Weekend Became DecadentThe Two Sides of DecadenceGrand Marshal ObservationsTiffany Alexander and Southern Decadence 2011Southern Decadence 2020 Update: The Southern Decadence That Wasn’tJournalism and MediaRemembering RipRip and Marsha: The Early YearsRich Magill and His TimesValda Lewis and Just for the RecordMichael-Chase: Out on the RadioPreservationQueer Eye for PreservationWilliam Ratcliffe Irby: A Gay Man of ConsequenceThe Gay Twenties and the French Quarter RenaissanceRemembering Clay ShawLGBT National Landmarks in New OrleansEntertainmentEntertainingly Out: Tony Jackson and Patsy ValdelarMy O My! The Most Interesting Women Aren’t Women at AllJames Booker: The Black LiberaceBoys on the Bar: The Corner PocketJohn Q. HustlerPrideThe Archbishop, Sissies in Struggle, and Gay PrideA Pride Parade to RememberThe Politics of PrideReflecting on Pride MonthA Brief History of Pride in New OrleansHistorical ScholarshipThe State of Scholarship on Queer New Orleans HistoryThe 1995 Panel on Lesbian and Gay History in LouisianaThe New Orleans Dyke Bar History ProjectLaRC: A Treasure Trove of LGBT HistoryOctober Is LGBT History MonthLagniappeThe Historical Closet: Mid-Nineteenth-Century Gay New OrleansAll about the BearsHere Cums Mr. BingleFAB: Faubourg Marigny Arts and BooksMiss Fly, Ms. Do, and the Double PlayInterviewsRace and Gay Spaces: Remembering the Safari Lounge—An Interview with Robert FieselerCruising Public Bathrooms: An Interview with Retired NOPD Officer Larry Williams Sr.Decadence Past: An Interview with 2010 SDGMs Julien Artressia and Toby LefortLocal Queer History Goes to the Lammys: An Interview with Deacon MaccubbinRicky Everett Recalls the Night He Escaped the Up Stairs Lounge FireIndex

"Every city has LGBTQ history. But not every city has that history documented. New Orleans not only has a long and rich queer history but is also fortunate enough to have strong queer historians. Frank Perez is one of the best." - Johnny Townsend, author of the first book on the Up Stairs Lounge fire, Inferno in the French Quarter, Racism by Proxy, Brace for Impact, and 10 Things to Do Before the Apocalypse"Rainbow Fleur de Lis is a valuable collection of essays on the many facets of New Orleans’s queer culture. Originally published as newspaper columns, the individual entries lend themselves to brief periods of reading, but because the essays are thematically grouped and contain encyclopedic details, the book is equally valuable as a springboard for further research. Kudos to Frank Perez for a book that will appeal to casual readers and advanced students alike." - Clayton Delery, author of The Up Stairs Lounge Arson and Out for Queer Blood"Rainbow Fleur de Lis is a love letter to New Orleans hedonism and a fitting tribute to Ambush, among the greatest ‘bar rag’ newspapers of the gay world. Perez is the avuncular voice and herald of an overlooked genre of local columnists and public historians, who felt called to do the good work when sources were still alive to tell their tales. Richly reported and fun to read, this is a foundational text for queer New Orleans history." - Robert W. Fieseler, author of American Scare and Tinderbox