HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION HOSTING A PUBLIC DISCUSSION IN REMEMBRANCE OF 32 LIVES TAKEN DURING A HUGE FIRE AT A GAY BAR IN THE FRENCH QUARTER. WELL, TOMORROW MARKS 50 YEARS SINCE THAT TRAGEDY. WDSU NEWS REPORTER SHAY O’CONNOR IS LIVE FROM ALONG ROYAL STREET WITH HOW MANY ARE REMEMBERING THIS DAY IN OUR HISTORY. SHAY. CHALLENGING THE 32 PEOPLE WOULD LOSE THEIR LIVES AFTER THAT FIRE WAS INTENTIONALLY SET OVER AT THE UPSTAIRS LOUNGE. FIVE DECADES AGO. TODAY, DISCUSSIONS ARE BEING HELD ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE BAR, BUT THEN ALSO THE FIRE, WHICH IS REGARDED TO MANY AS THE WORST FIRE TO HAPPEN IN THE HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS. UP UNTIL THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING IN 2016, THIS WAS THE NATION’S LARGEST LGBT MASSACRE IN OUR HISTORY. FRIDAY, AN OPEN DISCUSSION HELD HERE ALONG ROYAL STREET ABOUT LGBT PLUS RIGHTS AND THE HISTORY OF THE MASSIVE FRENCH QUARTER FIRE AT THE GAY BAR. THE UPSTAIRS LOUNGE ON JUNE 24TH, 1973, 50 YEARS LATER IN MANY DON’T REALIZE THE HISTORY OF THIS BUILDING HERE AT THE CORNER OF IBERVILLE AND CHARTER STREETS, NIKKI CRYONIC WORKS ALONG IBERVILLE AND SAYS EVERY YEAR SHE’S SEEN THE GROWING MEMORIALS NEAR THIS PLAQUE FROM THE LOVED ONES OF THE VICTIMS. THEY WERE FAMILY OF PEOPLE THAT WE KNOW. THEY WERE FRIENDS OF EMPLOYEES HERE THAT WORK IN THE FRENCH QUARTER AND THEY WERE GOOD PEOPLE THAT LOST THEIR LIVES. LOCAL AUTHOR AND RESEARCHER OF THE QUEER COMMUNITY, FRANK PEREZ, SAYS AS HISTORY TELLS IT, THE FIRE WAS INTENTIONALLY SET BY AN ANGRY PATRON THAT FATEFUL NIGHT. 32 PEOPLE WOULD LOSE THEIR LIVES, ANOTHER 15 OR SO INJURED. NOT ONLY WAS A KNOWN SUSPECT NEVER ARRESTED FOR THE CRIME, THE SURVIVORS WOULD HAVE TO LIVE WITH THE STIGMA YOU IMAGINE NARROWLY ESCAPED DEATH AND NOT KNOWING HOW MANY OF YOUR FRIENDS ARE DYING OR HAVE DIED AND THEN HAVING TO ENDURE ALL THE SNARKY COMMENTS AND HOMOPHOBIC JOKES AND WHATNOT. ORGANIZERS SAY 50 YEARS LATER, IN THE LGBTQ PLUS COMMUNITY HAVE MADE LOTS OF STRIDES. BUT THERE’S STILL MORE WORK TO BE DONE, SPECIFICALLY REGARDING THE STATE LEGISLATURE RECENTLY PROPOSING SEVERAL BILLS THAT MANY BELIEVE NEGATIVELY IMPACT LGBTQ PLUS PEOPLE. WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO, BUT THERE ARE SO MANY COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND LOCAL COMMUNITY LEADERS THAT ARE STEPPING UP TO RAISE AWARENESS AND BRING THE FIGHT TO THE STREETS TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY KNOWS WHY WE’RE STILL FIGHTING. THIS. GINA, TAMARA, THERE WILL BE A MEMORIAL THAT WILL BEGIN AT 3:30 P.M. AT SAINT MARK’S CHURCH. I’M TOLD DIRECTLY AFTER THAT THERE WILL BE A SECOND LINE THAT WILL TRAVEL THROUGHOUT THE FRENCH QUARTER ENDING AT THE SITE OF THE FIRE. REPORTING LIVE FROM THE FRENCH QUARTER,