The empress is a man : stories from the life of José Sarria

303 Pages·2013·4.934 MB·English

by  Gorman, Michael Robert, Sarria, José

rom arrta
Michael R. Gorman
The Empress Is a Man
Stories from the Life
o f Jose Sarria
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The Empress Is a Man
Stories from the Life
of Jose Sarria
Michael Robert Gorman, MA
J Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
New York London
First published by
Harrington Park Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY
13904-1580
This edition published 2013 by Routledge
Routledge Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group
711 Third Avenue 2 Park Square, Milton Park
Mew York, NY 10017 Abingdon, Oxon 0X14 4RN
© 1998 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
microfilm, and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher.
Cover design by Monica L. Seifert.
Cover photo by Brian Ashby.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of this book as:
Gorman, Michael Robert.
The empress is a man : stories from the life of Jose Sarria / Michael Robert Gorman,
p. cm.
ISBN 0-7890-0259-0 (alk. paper)
I. Sarria, Jose. 2. Gay men—California—San Francisco—Biography. 3. Female imper­
sonators—California—San Francisco—Biography. 1. Title.
HQ75.8.S27G67 1998
305.38'9664'097946l—dc2! 97-26364
C1P
ISBN 1-56023-917-4 (pbk.)
CONTENTS
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
PART ONE: WE ARE FAMILY
The Empire Begins 1
The Cemetery 5
The Disturbance 13
For Unto You Is Born This Day in the City of San Francisco 25
Kidnapped! 33
Enquiring Mind 45
A Voice for All Ages 49
The Mexican Dancer 53
The Baron 59
Hennano a Hermano 71
PART TWO: THEY SAY THAT IN THE ARMY
The Boys from Texas 75
You’re in the Army Now 87
Andre and the Girls 97
Corsets in the Wind 103
PART THREE: THE BLACK CAT
She Is Like, Out and About: A Regular USO Show.
Mmm-Hmm Honey! You Hear What I ’in Saying? 113
Jimmy and the Black Cat 123
The Arrest 137
Pierre 143
God Save Us Nelly Queens 161
Nervous Queens in the Temple 165
Singing into the Silence 169
The American Legion Performance 173
I Am a Boy 179
The Feud 181
Blessings from the Black Cat 187
The Society for Individual Rights Anniversary 195
The Ice Queen 201
The Election 203
Rising to Heaven, or Thereabouts 209
Pearls! 213
PART FOUR: THE IMPERIAL COURT
San Francisco 221
The Victorian Chapter 227
The Diva 235
Senator Emperor 243
Cinderella Did Drag 247
To Oz? 255
Get Me to the Church in Drag 259
The Great Idaho-Utah War 261
Mr. DeMille? 265
Bridges 271
Two Old Farts 275
His World 277
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael R. Gorman, MA, has worked as an editor, journalist, and
columnist for three different gay newspapers in Sacramento,
California, and is a strong activist in the struggle for gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgender rights. Michael is also a poet of some
renown in northern California, the Sacramento gay community hav­
ing dubbed him “the Poet Laureate of Lavender Heights.” A former
high school teacher of creative writing and folklore, he now teaches
writing part-time at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento.
JOSE’S FAMILY TREES
Biological
Concepcion Chaparo ------ Ciebio Maldonado
(Brother—Nemesio Chaparo)
Rudicino Eltevina Anna Rosa
Maria Dolores- - Julio Sarria
(Half Brother—Hugo Sarria)
Jos6
Adopted
Maria Bruce Turk Philomena Steele
Bengurel Willing
Jesserina Mercandante- Charles G. Millen
Augustus Teresa Leonore Josephine Antoinette (the child
for whom Jos6 became
an adopted replacement)