Our History: The Imperial Court of Washington, DC
Established in 2010 and formally welcomed by the International Imperial Court Council in 2011, the Imperial Court of Washington, DC stands among the newest chapters of the International Imperial Court System, a network that marked its 50th anniversary in 2015. We carry forward the charitable legacy of our founder, Jose Julio Sarria, and honor our State Head, Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Nicole the Great, Queen Mother I of the Americas.
How the International Court System Began
The movement took root in San Francisco in 1965, a city long celebrated for its larger-than-life personalities. Jose Sarria, a San Francisco legend, became the first openly gay political candidate when he ran for city supervisor in 1961. Around the same period, gay bar owners were forming the Tavern Guild to support one another against an anti-gay political machine then active in the city.
Crowned Queen of the Beaux Arts Ball in 1964 by the Tavern Guild, Sarria declared that he was already a queen and proclaimed himself Her Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, José I, The Widow Norton. The Widow Norton name referenced Joshua Norton, a famed 19th-century San Franciscan who had declared himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico in 1859.
Though Norton was viewed as insane or at least highly eccentric, San Franciscans embraced his regal presence and his proclamations, including his order that Congress be dissolved by force (ignored by Congress and the U.S. Army), his call to ban the Republican and Democratic parties for misleading the country, and his decrees for a bridge and tunnel across San Francisco Bay, both of which were eventually realized as the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and the Transbay Tube. Norton's legacy lives on in the work of writers Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, Christopher Moore, and Neil Gaiman, who drew characters from him.
Sarria led elaborate annual pilgrimages to place flowers on Norton's grave at Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma, California. He bought the plot beside Norton's and was laid to rest there in 2013, when he passed away at age 90. Sarria's assumption of the title of Empress gave rise to the International Court System, a network of non-profit charitable organizations across the United States, Canada, and Mexico that raise funds for a range of beneficiaries. Sarria remains deeply revered within the Court hierarchy and was affectionately known among Imperial Court members as Mama José. The José Honors Awards are presented to Imperial Court dignitaries and others at a bi-annual banquet held in his honor.
Our Place in the International Imperial Court System
For further information, explore the resources below.