The Metropolitan Community Church of New Orleans - a denomination founded to be explicitly welcoming to the gay community - used the UpStairs Lounge, a gay bar on the second floor of the building, as its meeting place. During one of their meetings in 1973, an arsonist doused the stairs to the lounge in lighter fluid and set the building on fire. Due to safety measures in the clubs, liked barred windows, many were unable to escape, and, ultimately, 32 people lost their lives. It was the deadliest mass murder in a gay club until the Pulse Nightclub shooting. If it were to be classified as a house of worship - as it was being used as one - it would be the deadliest attack on a house of worship ever in the United States. Despite the horrific deaths, only gay media thoroughly covered the massacre. Many churches refused to hold funerals for the victims because they were gay. Two of the victims of the fire still have not been identified since many attended these meetings in secret. Many suspected that a gay man who had been kicked out of the bar earlier started the fire, but he was never arrested, and has since taken his own life. Whether a gay man started the fire or not, this incident left an indelible imprint on the queer community. At any point, they could be brutally murdered, few would care, and they would likely never receive justice.