Stewart Perry Butler was a pioneering LGBTQ+ activist based in New Orleans. His political activism on behalf of LGBTQ+ rights spanned over forty years and had an impact across the state, region and nation. His activism was made possible thanks in large part to his loving partner, Alfred Doolittle. Both Stewart and Alfred were survivors of the tragic 1973 Up Stairs Lounge fire and witnessed the aftermath. They purchased The Faerie Playhouse together in 1979. Stewart went on to become a member or cofounder of several key organizations, including the Gertrude Stein Society, the Louisiana Lesbian and Gay Political Action Caucus (LAGPAC), Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the New Orleans LGBT Community Center, and the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana. (credit: Frank Perez)

Learn more about the life and legacy of Stewart Butler:

• Political Animal: The Life and Times of Stewart Butler, book by Frank Perez, University Press of Mississippi (2022)

• "Lion in Winter: A Tribute to Stewart Butler" by Frank Perez, French Quarter Journal

• "Longtime New Orleans gay-rights activist Stewart Butler dies at 89" by John Pope on Nola.com

• Stewart Butler in the OUTWORDS Archive

• Podcast 122: Stewart Butler's Legacy of LGBT+ Activism with the National Park Service

• "Scenes From The Faerie Playhouse: The Gay Rights Movement In New Orleans" by Sarah Holtz on WWNO 

• “The Fiery Life of Stewart Butler” by Robert Fieseler in Slate Magazine

• “Stewart Butler” by Frank Perez in 64 Parishes, a project of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities

• Book Review of Political Animal: The Life and Times of Stewart Butler by Clayton Delery in French Quarter Journal

• Stewart Butler, Longtime LGBT Leader and Rights Advocate, to Receive Award from ACLU of Louisiana, Press Release (2013)

• Oral History Interview with Stewart Butler by Frank Perez and LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana

• Letters Read: The Letters of Stewart Butler, Letter Read, Apr 26, 2020