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Luther Boggs was one who came through the window in flames after pushing his female friend through the gap. Several people managed to squeeze through, some still burning when they reached the ground below.
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Others saw the floor to ceiling windows as the most promising means of escape despite the fact that there were safety bars on the windows with a 14 inch gap between them to prevent dancers from breaking through the glass. Rasmussen immediately led some twenty patrons out of the back exit to the roof, where the group could access a neighbouring building's roof and climb down to the ground floor. Boggs opened the door to find the front staircase engulfed in flames, along with the smell of lighter fluid. Īt 7:56PM, a buzzer from downstairs sounded, and bartender Buddy Rasmussen, an Air Force veteran, asked Luther Boggs to answer the door, anticipating a taxi cab driver. After the drink special ended, about 60 to 90 patrons remained they listened to pianist George Steven “Bud” Matyi perform and discussed an upcoming MCC fundraiser for the local Crippled Children's Hospital. That night’s beer bust, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, attracted approximately 110 patrons. The MCC was the United States' first national gay Christian fellowship, founded in Los Angeles in 1968 the local congregation had held services in the UpStairs Lounge's theatre for a while.
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Members of the Metropolitan Community Church, a pro-LGBT Protestant denomination, were there after service.
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The club was located on the second floor of a three-story building at the corner of Chartres and Iberville Streets. On Sunday evening, June 24, 1973, over a weekend when Christopher Street “Pride” celebrations took place in seemingly every major American city but New Orleans, the regular "beer bust" drink special attracted its usual blue-collar gay crowd to the UpStairs Lounge.