UIS Speaker Series kicks off Queertober with a historical look at the 1973 arson murders in a gay club

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speaker Series will kick off Queertober with author Robert W. Fieseler reading from his book “Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation.”

WHEN: 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019

WHERE: UIS Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library

DETAILS: Forty-three years before the Pulse nightclub shooting became the largest mass murder of gays in the United States, an arsonist set fire to the Up Stairs Lounge in New Orleans, killing 32 people.

Journalist and nonfiction author Robert Fieseler, a Naperville, Illinois native, will share excerpts from his book, which recounts the tragic fire that happened on June 24, 1973. Fieseler uses survivor interviews and extensive research to weave a story with memorable characters living in a closeted, but thriving world before the fire.
       
Fieseler’s story of the forgotten history also reports the political and societal change that followed the fire with a supported and emerging gay rights movement.

This event is cosponsored by UIS Brookens Library, Friends of Brookens Library and the UIS Office of Gender and Sexuality Student Services.

Individuals with disabilities who anticipate the need for accommodations should contact the UIS Speaker Series Office at 217-206-8507 or speakerseries@uis.edu in advance. For a list of other upcoming ECCE Speaker Series events, visit www.uis.edu/speakerseries/.