Community Grand Marshal José Sarria
Greater Palm Springs Pride honors José Sarria, LGBT rights activist and the founder of the International Imperial Court System, as Community Grand Marshal.
An early LGBT activist, Sarria co-founded several homophile organizations, including the League for Civil Education, the Tavern Guild and the Society for Individual Rights. Sarria became the fi rst openly gay candidate for public offi ce in the United States when he ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1961. In 1964 Sarria declared himself “Empress José I, The Widow Norton” and founded the Imperial Court System, which grew to become an international association of charitable organizations.
In 1961 José did the heroic deed for which he is best known today: he fi led as the fi rst openly gay candidate in the world to run for public offi ce, the position of a San Francisco city supervisor, the same political offi ce won by Harvey Milk 16 years later. Although José did not win in 1961, he shocked both the city’s gay and straight communities by gathering a hefty 5,600 votes coming in 9th out of a fi eld of 32 candidates. The realization that a gay voting bloc could wield considerable political clout in San Francisco is cited by a number of political strategists resulting from José’s impressive vote tally.
Crowned Queen of the Beaux Arts Ball in 1964 by the Tavern Guild, Sarria proclaimed himself “Her Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, José I, The Widow Norton”. Sarria devised the name “Widow Norton” as a reference to the much-celebrated citizen of 19th century San Francisco, Joshua Norton, who had declared himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico in 1859. Sarria organized elaborate annual pilgrimages to lay fl owers on Norton’s grave at a cemetery outside of San Francisco. He purchased a plot adjacent to Norton’s and plans to be interred there.
Sarria’s assumption of the title of Empress led to the establishment of the Imperial Court System, a network of non-profi t charitable organizations throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico that raise money for various benefi ciaries. By the early 1970s, the Court system established by José had been franchised to fi rst Vancouver, Canada, and then Portland. Over the next thirty years, individual courts answering to the Widow Norton have spread to nearly seventy areas (some based in cities while others cover whole states or provinces) in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Imperial Court of San Francisco along with the California courts raised thousands of dollars and was instrumental in defeating the Briggs Initiative in 1978. Today, the International Imperial Court System is the second largest gay and lesbian organization in the world – second only to the Metropolitan Community Church.
José continued to reign over the Courts for 43 years, before abdicating in 2007. For his lifetime of activism, the city of San Francisco renamed a section of 16th Street in Sarria’s honor. He resides today in Palm Springs.
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