"Mass Violence and the History of Gay Liberation Go Hand in Hand"

"The UpStairs Lounge was not the only target of mass violence during the height of gay liberation in the 1970s. Arsonists set fire to gay churches in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Nashville and San Francisco in 1973 and 1974. Six months before the fire at the UpStairs Lounge, on Jan. 27, 1973, a fire broke out at the 'Mother Church' of the M.C.C., in Los Angeles, where a gay Jewish group met for services.

"Though no other attack came close to the death toll at the UpStairs Lounge, the attacks collectively set off an undercurrent of fear among the L.G.B.T. community in the 1970s: that our bars, which have been the sites of our political liberation, the focal point of our community, and even our places of worship, have also been the visible targets of violence and hatred committed against us."

Jim Downs in The New York Times recalls anti-gay violence forty years ago.