Coverage of the fire by news outlets minimized the fact that LGB patrons constituted the majority of the victims, while editorials and talk radio hosts made light of the event. No government officials or major religious figures made mention of the fire for several days, if not weeks. After returning from a trip in Europe, New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu held a routine press conference on July 11, 1973, where a gay reporter questioned him about the “homosexual angle” to the tragedy affecting community response. Landrieu stated that he was “not aware of any lack of concern in the community.” New Orleans Archbishop Philip Hannan, silent for weeks, offered brief remarks at the end of a column about human rights in the archdiocesan newspaper The Clarion Herald in mid-July 1973. Fieseler, Robert W. (April 8, 2021). “Up Stairs Lounge Fire,” 64 Parishes. https://64parishes.org/entry/up-stairs-lounge-fire As Robert L. Camina, writer/director of a documentary about the fire (Upstairs Inferno), said in 2013, "I was shocked at the disproportionate reaction by the city government. The city declared days of mourning for victims of other mass tragedies in the city. It shocked me that despite the magnitude of the fire, it was largely ignored."
