In 1961, José Saria ran for City Supervisor under the name of the Dowager Widow of the Emperor Norton, Empress of San Francisco and Protectress of Mexico. Saria, the first openly gay candidate to run for a political office in the United States garnered 6,500 votes. In the process, he started the Imperial Court system which today raises millions of dollars for charity and LGBT causes.
This video shows a few things from the Jose Saria Collection with funny commentary from the tour group.
Nice video - and I love "Mama Jose".
PS - the guy talking looks like he has a nice basket!
GoranMak 4 years ago