Attractions
Cafe-Lafitte-In-Exile is the longest running gay bar in America.
Bourbon Street
LGBT history in Louisiana Miss Gay America Bourbon Street French Quarter Lafitte
LGBT_history_in_Louisiana-1940-1970 Miss_Gay_America-State_&_Regional_Preliminaries Bourbon_Street-Attractions French_Quarter-Bourbon_Street Lafitte-Places
In 1949, the Fat Monday Luncheon, a private event for local gay men, was first held in New Orleans. The Krewe of Yuga was the first gay Carnival club in 1958, followed by the Krewe of Petronius in 1961. After the closure of a bar at the Lafitte Blacksmith Shop on Bourbon Street, gay patrons moved to a bar around the corner, known as the Café Lafitte in Exile, and turned the bar into the oldest gay bar in New Orleans. In 1967, District Attorney Jim Garrison arrested Clay Shaw, a local openly-homosexual businessman, and charged Shaw with conspiring to assassinate John F. Kennedy. The trial eventually acquitted Shaw. 
 1 The Miss Gay Arkansas America pageant is the oldest and longest running franchise in the America pageant system. 2 Miss Gay North Carolina America pageant currently boasts the most number of city preliminaries with an average of 20, totaling 40 contestants.  
Though largely quiet during the day, Bourbon Street comes alive at night, particularly during the French Quarter's many festivals. Most popular among these is the annual Mardi Gras celebration, when Bourbon Street teems with hundreds of thousands of tourists. Local open container laws in the French Quarter allow drinking alcoholic beverages in the street. Popular drinks include the hurricane cocktail, resurrection cocktail and Huge Ass Beers - a large plastic cup of draft beer marketed to tourists at a low price. The most visited section of Bourbon Street is "Upper Bourbon Street", an eight-block section of popular tourist attractions. Among the tourist attractions are bars, restaurants,souvenir shops and strip clubs. There are also a number of gay bars. Most bars are located in the central section of Bourbon Street. Popular bars include Pat O'Brien's, Johnny White's, The Famous Door, Spirits on Bourbon, Razzoo and The Cats Meow. Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo is located on the corner of St Ann. Arguably the most popular restaurant on Bourbon Street is Galatoire's. However, Jean Laffite's Blacksmith Shop and The Old Absinthe House are also popular. The upper end of Bourbon Street near Canal Street is home to many of the French Quarter's strip clubs. These include Rick's Cabaret, Temptations, and Larry Flynt's Barely Legal Club. The section of Bourbon Street from the intersection of St. Ann Street caters to New Orleans' thriving gay community, featuring such clubs as New Orleans' largest gay nightclub, The Bourbon Pub, and Oz. St. Ann Street has been referred to as "the Velvet Line", in reference to it being the edge or boundary line of the gay community in the French Quarter. Cafe-Lafitte-In-Exile is the oldest gay bar in the country. The intersection of Bourbon Street and St. Ann Street is also the center of Southern Decadence, commonly referred to as the "Gay Mardi Gras" and attracts upwards of 100,000 participants over Labor Day weekend.
The most well known of the French Quarter streets, Bourbon Street, or Rue Bourbon, is known for its drinking establishments. Most of the bars frequented by tourists are new but the Quarter also has a number of notable bars with interesting histories. The Old Absinthe House has kept its name although the liquor has been illegal for a century in the United States because of its toxic qualities. Pat O'Brien's Bar is well known both for inventing the red cocktail, Hurricane, as well as having the first Dueling Piano Bar. Pat O'Brien's is located at 718 St. Peter Street. Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop is a tavern located on the corner of Bourbon and St. Philip streets. Built sometime before 1772, it is one of the older surviving structures in New Orleans (the Ursuline Convent, for example, is older). It has been called the oldest continually occupied bar in the United States. According to legend, the structure was once owned by the pirate Jean Lafitte. The Napoleon House bar and restaurant is in the former home of mayor Nicholas Girod. It was named for an unrealized plot to rescue Napoleon I from his exile in St. Helena and bring him to New Orleans. The original Johnny White's bar is a favorite of motorcycle bikers. In 2005 an off-shoot called Johnny White's Hole in the Wall, along with Molly's at the Market, drew national media attention as the only businesses in the city to stay open throughout Hurricane Katrina and the weeks after the storm. Spirits on Bourbon was featured on the season three of "Bar Rescue." It has become a staple of Bourbon Street, with its light-up skull cup and Resurrection drink. The Bourbon Pub and Oz, both located at the intersection of Bourbon and St. Ann streets, are the two largest gay clubs in New Orleans. Café Lafitte in Exile, located at the intersection of Bourbon and Dumaine, is the oldest continuously running gay bar in the United States. These and other gay establishments sponsor the raucous Southern Decadence Festival during Labor Day weekend. This festival is often referred to as New Orleans's "Gay Mardi Gras". St. Ann Street is often called "the Lavender Line," in reference to its being on the edge of the French Quarter's predominately gay district. While gay residents live throughout the French Quarter, that portion northeast of St. Ann Street is generally considered to be the gay district. New Orleans and its French Quarter are one of a few places in the United States where possession and consumption of alcohol in open containers is allowed on the street. 
 France  Lafitte, Tarn-et-Garonne, a commune in southern France United States  Lafitte, Louisiana  The Lafitte Projects in the 6th Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana  Jean Lafitte, Louisiana * Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve  Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop in the French Quarter in New Orleans  