New Orleans has a rich and vibrant LGBT+ history and it has been my pleasure for the last several years to not only preserve and document that history, but also to be a small part of it. I’ve written several books and hundreds of articles on local queer history and I’m proud to be a co-founder of the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana. In addition, I also founded and love conducting The Rainbow Fleur de Lis Walking Tour, which is a leisurely sashay the French Quarter’s rainbow history.
The tour grew out of the research I conducted while writing In Exile: The History and Lore Surrounding New Orleans Gay Culture and Its Oldest Gay Bar. The tour has evolved since then as I have written several more books and hundreds of articles. I generally try to customize the tour according to guests’ interests. There is so much ground to cover–bar culture, trans history, lesbian activism, gay Carnival, racial divisions, Southern Decadence, drag history, legendary bars, sex work, the queer literary scene, Pride, to say nothing of dozens of eccentric characters. We have such a rich LGBT+ history in New Orleans that it is challenging to fit it all into one tour. That’s a good problem!
To book The Rainbow Fleur de Lis Walking Tour or schedule a public speaking engagement, email me at frankearlperez@gmail.com or call 504-941-1633.
Service
Co-founder, LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana
Member, Gulf Coast LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce
Member, New Orleans LGBT Hospitality Alliance
Honors
Gay Appreciation Award for Best Writer. 2022.
New Orleans Pride Grand Marshal. 2020.
Saints and Sinners Literary Festival Hall of Fame. 2019.
Gay Appreciation Award for Best Writer. 2019.
Southern Decadence Grand Marshal. 2018.
Gay Appreciation Award for Best LGBT Business. 2016.
Gay Appreciation Award for Best LGBT Business. 2014.
Books
Political Animal: The Life and Times of Stewart Butler (Forthcoming from the University of Mississippi Press).
Southern Decadence in New Orleans. (with Howard P. Smith) Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 2018.
My Gay New Orleans: 28 Personal Reminiscences on LGBT+ Life in New Orleans, Editor. (with Jeffrey Palmquist) Bedford, TX: LL Publications, 2016.
Treasures of the Vieux Carre: Ten Self-Guided Walking Tours of the French Quarter. Bedford, TX: LL Publications, 2014.
In Exile: The History and Lore Surrounding New Orleans Gay Culture and Its Oldest Gay Bar. (with Jeffrey Palmquist) Bedford, TX: LL Publications, 2012.
Articles
“Rainbow History.” Regular column in French Quarter Journal.
“Moments in Gay New Orleans History.” Regular column in Ambush Magazine. List of articles here.
“A Night to Remember: A Review of Upstairs Inferno.” In The Gay and Lesbian Review. July, 2016.
“The LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana: A Community Organizing Success Story.” In Queering Education in the Deep South. Kamden K. Strunk, Ed. Charlette, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2018.
Presentations
“The Children of Yuga: A Brief History of the Birth of Gay Carnival.” Making Mardi Gras Symposium, The Historic New Orleans Collection, 2022.
“OUT Traveler’s Get Back OUT There with Will and James.” YouTube Video, 2021.
“The French Quarter’s Rainbow Heritage.” Gallier Gatherings, New Orleans, LA 2021.
“Southern Decadence.” Beyond Bourbon Street Podcast, 2021.
“Remembering the Double Play.” Listen to New Orleans Podcast, 2021.
“New Orleans Bars.” GayBarchives Podcast, 2021.
“Celebration and Change in LGBT+ New Orleans.” Panel Discussion, Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, LA 2020.
“The History of Pride in New Orleans.” Panel Discussion, New Orleans, LA 2020.
“The Rainbow Fleur de Lis.” National Park Service, New Orleans, LA 2019.
“Gay Carnival.” American Alliance of Museums Conference, New Orleans, LA 2019.
Gay Carnival Panel Discussion. “The Sons of Tennessee Williams” screening, Prytania Theatre, New Orleans, 2019.
“Queer History of the French Quarter.” Tricentennial Lecture Series, VCPORA / Beauregard-Keyes House, New Orleans, LA 2018.
“Prejudice and Pride: Revisiting the Tragic Fire that Killed 32 in a New Orleans Bar.” ABC News Documentary, 2018.
Violence and Celebration in LGBTQ New Orleans Panel Discussion. Literary Festival, New Orleans, 2018.
Queer New Orleans Panel Discussion. Louisiana Book Festival. Baton Rouge, 2018.
History of AIDS in New Orleans Panel Discussion. New Orleans, LA, 2017.
“Police Hostility and the LGBT+ Community in New Orleans.” U.S. Attorney’s Office, New Orleans, 2016.
“A Brief History of Gay New Orleans.” Society of American Archivists Conference. New Orleans, 2013.
