Celebrate Pride with HNOC
Explore content that showcases LGBT+ New Orleanians who have contributed to the city’s history and culture.
From the Blog
When the Drag Queens of Club My-O-My Ruled the Lake
Straddling gender and parish lines on piers over Lake Pontchartrain, tourists flocked to see “The World’s Most Beautiful Boys in Women’s Attire.”
The Gay Panic That Brought the LGBTQ Rights Movement to New Orleans
Anita Bryant’s 1977 crusade against homosexuality sparked a nationwide movement, prompting the first gay rights demonstration in New Orleans history.
When Praying the Gay Away Didn’t Work, He Turned to Activism
In an excerpt from his new memoir, activist Larry Bagneris recounts how his adolescent struggle to shed his homosexuality led to a political awakening and a lifelong purpose.
The Life and Death of Tennessee Williams’s Beloved
Frank Merlo was the poet’s companion for 15 years. In a previously unpublished poem featured in the 2024 Tennessee Williams Annual Review, Williams grieves his death.
The Intimate Eye of George Dureau
Prospect.5 spotlights the New Orleans photographer’s “othered” portraits.
Collection Highlights
Dorothea “Torchy” Wilde Papers
HNOC expands its LGBTQ+ holdings with the papers of a nightlife fixture who chronicled the Quarter’s denizens.
Mario Dipietrantonio Collection
In the early 1980s a small group of friends came together at the Golden Lantern to form a community-minded drag group known as the Demented Women.
Andrée Loisel Collection
After contracting HIV in 1988, a New Orleans–born artist and musician returned home to become one of the earliest public faces of the AIDS crisis.
TriPod Podcast
The Lost History Of Gay Carnival
TriPod: New Orleans at 300 offers a look at the once secret history of Gay Carnival krewes.
Video Highlights
The History of Southern Decadence
Presented in partnership with the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana, historian and author Frank Perez moderates a discussion with the founders of Southern Decadence about the origins and evolution of the event from a house party to one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in the world.
The Children of Yuga: A Brief History of the Birth of Gay Carnival
From Marc-Antoine Caillot’s account of dressing in drag on Lundi Gras in 1729 to today’s elaborate costumes at the Bourbon Street Awards, historian Frank Perez offers little-known information on the evolution of Gay Carnival in New Orleans.
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