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The advent of modern American queer activism is often cited as the Stonewall Riots in 1969. While undoubtedly a key turning point in queer history, another queer American leveraged the political power of the LGBTQIA+ community years before that pivotal event. José Sarria, a multilingual Latino American, was among the first openly queer men to run for public office in the US and galvanize his community as a social force to be reckoned with. His astonishing life saw a profound transformation in the political influence of the American queer community, a revolution to which he devoted his life until his death in 2013.
A Boy From The Bay
José Sarria was born in 1922 in the San Francisco Bay area of California to a Colombian mother who raised him alone. He reportedly enjoyed a loving relationship with his relatives throughout his life, who accepted his queer sexuality and gender expression before either were publicly acknowledged.[1] As a child, Sarria adored dressing up in women’s clothing, a fascination with cross-dressing that would carry over to his fabulous career as a drag performer in his adulthood.[2]
The American entry into World War II proved a key turning point in the young Sarria’s life. Though well below the military standard for weight and height, Sarria fought his way into the US Army after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.[3] Sarria served honorably throughout the war (despite facing strong anti-Latino racism within his otherwise all-white unit).[4] In Berlin, he took full advantage of a fascinating, open queer social scene and became involved with a young costume designer named Andre. But Sarria believed that his dream, to become a teacher, was best-served back home in the US. Accordingly, Sarria used his GI Bill benefits to enroll in a university upon his return to California in 1947.
The Black Cat
It was during his short-lived tenure as a college student that Sarria landed in the establishment that would become synonymous with his name. While working as a waiter in a local bar one evening, Sarria was accused of flirting with another man in a bathroom. Both men were promptly arrested by two undercover police officers, and Sarria was forced out of his university education on a morality charge (a common tactic used to harass queer persons during this period).[5] Officers were known to loiter at establishments known to cater to gay men, and use any “suspicious” interactions as fodder for criminal charges.
But the end of his educational dreams inadvertently opened a new door for Sarria – to The Black Cat, a popular bar in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco.[6] With Sarria as its newest rising star, The Black Cat soon became one of the preeminent queer bars in the area. Sarria became revered in the community for his fabulous operatic drag performances, which were artistic, eccentric and humorous with slicing political and social commentary woven in the witty mix.[7] Clad in gowns and red lipstick, Sarria delighted in skewering the powers that be of his era.
These years saw Sarria adopt an increasingly forward, public-facing role which extended far beyond the bar scene itself and into the revolutionary politics of post-WWII San Francisco. Sarria was particularly popular among his queer brethren for his pride in himself and in their community; he became famous for ending his shows with “God Save Us Nelly Queens” to the tune of “God Save the Queen”. In his own words, Sarria said, “I sang the song as a kind of anthem, to get them realizing that we had to work together…We could change the laws if we weren’t always hiding. God Save Us Nelly Queens, that’s what you are, be proud of it… ” He closed his shows with an infamous quote, now permanently etched into his headstone: “United we stand. Divided, they will catch us one by one.”
“United we stand. Divided, they will catch us one by one.”
José Sarria
Political Activism
The stage, literally and figuratively, was set for Sarria to become a full-fledged political activist – and perhaps a politician. The late 1950s had seen accelerating harassment of San Francisco’s queer communities, particularly its drag performers, under the so-called “Impersonation Laws”.[8] By the early 1960s, Sarria was ready to lead the local queer community in what would become a show of force for their voting power and political influence. In 1961, Sarria ran for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which made him the first known openly queer man to run for a political office in the US.[9]
Sarria treated his campaign with the upmost seriousness; he championed his candidacy fearlessly in person and on the local radio, leveraging his fluency in multiple languages to appeal to San Francisco’s diverse population.[10] Frustrated local officials, terrified that he might actually win, added thirty bogus candidates to a previously single-digit field in an effort to confuse voters and undermine his campaign.[11] In the end, Sarria came in ninth in the field of nearly forty candidates – ultimately losing that battle, but winning the war. From then on, San Francisco’s queer community was a viable, powerful political force which local leaders could only overlook at their own peril. Harvey Milk’s successful political bid just fifteen years later was arguably made possible by the organizational work done by his queer forebear, José Sarria.[12]
The Roaring 60s
Sarria continued to expand his activism throughout the tumultuous 1960s. Sarria brought a shrewd understanding of the bigoted tactics of anti-LGBTQIA+ officials and law enforcement to his work. Accordingly, he founded the League for Civil Education to fight against laws which unfairly targeted queer establishments in order to train the next generation of activists.[13] He likewise founded the Society for Individual Rights (SIR), a community-oriented and team-building organization, as well as the Tavern Guild of San Francisco.
But perhaps his most important, and influential, founding was the Imperial Court System, which today acts as an umbrella organization for queer nonprofits and activist groups throughout North America.[14] It remains among the largest and most prolific LGBTQIA+ organizations worldwide. The notorious drag queen styled the Imperial Court around his own preferred title: Empress José the First. His Imperial Highness was crowned at San Francisco’s first public drag ball in the mid-1960s, and he kept his self-imposed title throughout his long life.[15] Accordingly, one source notes that the Court “crowned regional empresses and queens and held balls to raise money for charitable causes.”[16]
Long Live the Empress
Sarria passed away in 2013 at the age of 90, just two years before gay marriage was recognized throughout the United States by the Supreme Court.[17] Today, many of the organizations he founded, as well as the José Sarria Foundation, live on and honor his work through memorials, scholarships, public education and activism across the legal and political spheres in pursuit of full equality for queer people of all identities. The extraordinary achievements of the queer liberation movement in the last several decades are unimaginable outside of his indelible influence and outsized legacy. The dedicated solider who became a drag queen thus remains one of the most important queer figures of the 20th century, and an American hero to the community he dedicated his entire life to serving. To say that José Sarria rests in power would be an understatement; long live the Empress, indeed.
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[1] The National Park Service, “Jose Sarria,” last updated June 27, 2022, https://www.nps.gov/people/jose-sarria.htm.
[2] The Legacy Project, “Jose Sarria – Inductee,” https://legacyprojectchicago.org/person/jose-sarria.
[3] American Masters, “Jose Sarria: Legendary Drag Queen and Queer Activist (Transcript),” PBS, July 27, 2021, https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/jose-sarria-legendary-drag-queen-and-queer-activist/18304/.
[4] The National Park Service, ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Rustem Ertug Altinay, “José Sarria”, The Encyclopedia Brittanica, last updated December 8, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-Sarria.
[7] Ibid.
[8] American Masters, ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] The National Park Service, ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] American Masters, ibid.
[13] The Legacy Project, ibid.
[14] Rustem Ertug Altinay, ibid.
[15] American Masters, ibid.
[16] The National Park Service.
[17] Ibid.