901 Bourbon St., New Orleans 70116, (504) 522-8397
www.lafittes.com
Café Lafitte in Exile is the oldest gay bar in New Orleans and arguably the oldest continually operating gay bar in the United States. Founded in 1933, the bar was originally located one block away at the current site of Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop. The bar had a sizeable gay clientele there until 1953 when the building came under homophobic ownership. In response to hostility from the new owner, the gay patrons moved one block down the street and opened their own “Café Lafitte In Exile,” so called because they saw themselves “in exile” from their former bar-home. According to legend, on the night the bar opened several regulars from the old bar went there to have one last drink and then picked up their barstools and marched down the street to the new bar. The bar quickly became an institution in its own right, attracting loyal customers like Tennessee Williams, who was a regular when he lived in New Orleans. By the 1960s, the bar had a notorious reputation as a cruise bar; that is, a place for gay men to have anonymous sex. Because of this notoriety, the U.S. Navy sent a letter to the bar declaring it off limits to personnel of the U.S. Armed Forces. The letter is on permanent and proud display on the wall just inside the front door. (Courtesy of Frank Perez)
Nearby Sites of Interest
The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum
724 Dumaine St., New Orleans 70116 (504) 680-0128 (http://www.voodoomuseum.com)
Open 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. daily and on most holidays.
To Learn More
Jeffrey Palmquist and Frank Perez, In Exile: The History and Lore Surrounding New Orleans Gay Culture and Its Oldest Gay Bar (LL Publications, 2012).