Imperial Court de San Diego

As one of the oldest LGBT organizations around the globe and certainly the oldest in North America, the International Court System of the United States, Canada and Mexico has a rich and storied history. Founded in San Francisco by renown activist, drag queen and performer José Julio Sarria in 1965—who would come to be known by the title of Absolute Empress I de San Francisco, the Widow Norton—The Imperial Court System would eventually become one of the largest LGBTQ organizations in the world, growing to 70 chapters. From those early days when it was still illegal, even dangerous to dress in drag or be gay, those forbearers took on a vital advocacy role in the fight for LGBTQ human rights, encouraging people to stand up for themselves and to reject second-class status.