"In Memoriam..."

José Julio Sarria, who became the first openly LGBT American to run for public office in 1961, died Monday aged 90 following a battle with cancer












First Openly Gay Person To Run For Public Office In US José Sarria Dies

GayStarNews
August 21, 2013
By Andrew Potts

José Julio Sarria, who became the first openly gay American to run for public office when he stood for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1961, died in his Albuquerque home on Monday.

Sarria, a World War II veteran and legendary San Francisco drag queen, had used the drag persona Empress José, the Widow Norton and was also dubbed the Nightingale of Montgomery Street where he performed at The Black Cat bar until its closure in 1964.

Sarria was unsuccessful in his Board of Supervisors bid despite receiving nearly 6,000 votes – the first time that people had taken notice of a gay voting block in the city,

Sarria’s first love had been Paul Kolish, an Austrian baron who had fled the country when the Nazis occupied the country.

Serra attained the rank of Staff Seargent before being honorably discharged at the end of his service in 1945.

While away at war, Kolish had proposed the idea of marrying Sarria’s mother to give their relationship some kind of legal protection in terms of inheritance but Sarria refused the idea.

Kolish gave instructions to his brother Paul that Sarria was to inherit his property if he died but after Kolish and his son Jonathan were killed in a car crash on Christmas Day in 1947 Paul ignored his wishes.

Kolish and his son had been driving to visit Sarria and his family when they were struck by a drunk driver.

Sarria would outlive another long term companion, Jimmy Moore, who died in 1964 after hanged himself in prison following an arrest for public drunkenness.

Sarria paved the way for Harvey Milk to become the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, endorsing his campaign 16 years later when Milk made his own successful bid for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.

Sarria’s passing was marked by California Senator Mark Leno who released an official statement honoring his lifetime of achievement.

‘Today we lost a dear friend and fearless community leader who will forever hold a place in our hearts and history books as the first openly gay person in the nation to run for elected office,’ Leno wrote.

‘When José threw his hat into the ring for San Francisco Supervisor more than 50 years ago, he became one of the first to publicly proclaim that there is no reason, constitutional or otherwise, to deny lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people first-class citizenship, respect and dignity under the law.

‘Jose’s visionary and legendary leadership helped build the foundation for our successful, modern-day LGBT civil rights movement. His sly humor and wicked wit disarmed nearly every adversary.’

In 2006 the City of San Francisco named a section of 16th Street in the city’s Castro district José Sarria Court in his honor.

The first ever openly LGBT person elected to public office was Kathy Kozachenko who won a seat on the Ann Arbor (Michigan) city council in 1974.

Her predecessor Nancy Wechsler was also a lesbian but only came out after being elected.