Rainbow Fleur De Lis
Essays on Queer New Orleans History
Format:Hardback
Publisher:University Press of Mississippi
Published:30th Jun '25
Should be back in stock very soon
Rainbow Fleur de Lis: Essays on Queer New Orleans History is an anthology of eighty-five short, easy-to-read essays that originally appeared in Ambush Magazine and French Quarter Journal. Author Frank Perez has collected essays on a wide variety of topics in LGBTQ history and arranged them into multiple sections. Each section contains five essays and begins with a brief introductory overview that ties the individual pieces together.
The book opens with Gay Carnival and provides a unique glimpse behind the scenes of this distinct New Orleans tradition. "Bars and Gay Spaces" examines the ever-shifting queer centers of gravity throughout the French Quarter. The section on the AIDS epidemic demonstrates how, by the end of the 1980s, New Orleans was a model city for providing AIDS-related services. "Arts and Letters" highlights figures such as lesbian photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston and playwright Tennessee Williams. The next section looks at homophobia in New Orleans in the 1950s. "Activists and Activism" traces the birth and rise of queer activism in New Orleans. Historical surveys of several organizations are then provided, followed by a unit on the Up Stairs Lounge fire. A section on Southern Decadence follows before the book turns its attention to how gay men saved the French Quarter a hundred years ago. Several legendary entertainers are then featured, as is the history of Pride in New Orleans. The book closes with a section on historical scholarship and several interview transcripts. Altogether, these essays provide an invaluable resource on New Orleans LGBTQ history.
"Every city has LGBTQ history. But not every city has that history documented. New Orleans not only has a long and rich queer history but is also fortunate enough to have strong queer historians. Frank Perez is one of the best." - Johnny Townsend, author of the first book on the Up Stairs Lounge fire, Inferno in the French Quarter, Racism by Proxy, Brace for Impact, and 10 Things to Do Before the Apocalypse
"Rainbow Fleur de Lis is a valuable collection of essays on the many facets of New Orleans’s queer culture. Originally published as newspaper columns, the individual entries lend themselves to brief periods of reading, but because the essays are thematically grouped and contain encyclopedic details, the book is equally valuable as a springboard for further research. Kudos to Frank Perez for a book that will appeal to casual readers and advanced students alike." - Clayton Delery, author of The Up Stairs Lounge Arson and Out for Queer Blood
"Rainbow Fleur de Lis is a love letter to New Orleans hedonism and a fitting tribute to Ambush, among the greatest ‘bar rag’ newspapers of the gay world. Perez is the avuncular voice and herald of an overlooked genre of local columnists and public historians, who felt called to do the good work when sources were still alive to tell their tales. Richly reported and fun to read, this is a foundational text for queer New Orleans history." - Robert W. Fieseler, author of American Scare and Tinderbox
ISBN: 9781496857583
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
277 pages