José Sarria (1922-2013) was an American drag queen and political activist.
Sarria was born in San Francisco to an absent Spanish father and a working Colombian mother, and was partially raised by another childless couple when his mother was busy. He began dressing in girls' clothes from an early age and spoke four languages by the time he graduated high school. Sarria's first, and longest lover, was Austrian baron Paul Kolish, whom Sarria tutored in languages.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sarria joined the Army (despite being too short--he seduced an Army major to be enlisted). He was officially attached to the Signal Corps, but also spent some time in the Intelligence School, trained as a cook, deliberated failed to be trained as a scout, and worked in the motor pool.
After Sarria returned from overseas, Kolish proposed marriage (it would not have been legally recognized), and though Sarria's mother agreed, Sarria himself did not. Kolish died in 1947, and despite instructions for Sarria to be looked after, Kolish's brother kept most of the inheritance.
After, Sarria returned to San Francisco, where he began working as a drag queen named Michelle and a cocktail waiter. He would sing full parody operas while serving drinks, including leading patrons to sing "God Save Us Nelly Queens" to the tune of "God Save the Queen", loud enough to be heard by the fellow gay men in the jail across the street.
Sarria also began work to decrease the number of police raids on gay bars and ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1961. This makes him the first openly gay candidate to run for public office in US history. He helped form the Tavern Guild, the country's first gay business association and the Society for Individual Rights.
Sarria, who also called himself "Her Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, José I, The Widow Norton", helped established the Imperial Court System, a network of non-profits throughout continental North America.
