SAN FRANCISCO MAY NAME STREET AFTER "WIDOW NORTON" Público Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 8, Number 52, December 11, 2005, Article 19
SAN FRANCISCO MAY NAME STREET AFTER "WIDOW NORTON"
The legacy of Emperor Norton lives on in San Francisco,
and gets stranger and stranger. A modern successor to
Norton's eccentric ways may soon have a street named
after him. According to a December 8 report in the
Bay Area Reporter, "Jose Sarria, the first out gay man
to run for public office in California and founder of
the Imperial Court system, could see a San Francisco
street named after him under a proposal by Supervisor
Bevan Dufty.""Sarria is a longtime champion of gay rights and
fundraiser for the LGBT community. He ran for city
supervisor in 1961 and founded the Imperial Court
System over 40 years ago in 1964 when he took on the
title of Empress Jose I.He later assumed the title of the Widow Norton after
the 19th century San Francisco eccentric Joshua Norton,
who proclaimed himself "Emperor of North America and
Protector of Mexico" and printed his own money. Each
year Sarria leads a processional to Norton's grave
in Colma, in tribute to him as well as those Imperial
Court members who have died of AIDS."To read the full article, see: Full Story
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