He Died In An Infamous Arson At A Gay Bar. Now, His Family Is Trying To Find His Remains
Until the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, the deadliest known attack at a gay club in U.S. history was a 1973 arson attack at a New Orleans gay bar called the UpStairs Lounge. Thirty-two people died in the fire, but many families didn't come forward to claim the bodies of the dead and churches refused to hold funerals for some of the victims.
For 42 years, Marilyn LeBlanc didn't even know her brother Ferris had died in the fire — until a Google search showed his name on a list of victims. Now, LeBlanc and her family are trying to bring Ferris' remains home.
Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson talks with Skip Bailey, Ferris' nephew, about those efforts.
Interview Highlights
On how Bailey and his family found out Ferris was one of the victims of the arson attack
"My mom came to stay with me around Christmas that night in 2015 to hang out for my birthday, and she had heard from one other brother that there was something on the internet about Ferris, so she asked me to look him up, and I did a Google search on his name, and my computer lit up with all of the horrible facts of the upstairs lounge fire and his death. And that started the whole process.
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See: New Evidence Shows That During the 1973 UpStairs Lounge Arson, Gays Had to Take Rescue Efforts Into Their Own Hands
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