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Today's hero is a guy who was gay "before his time" and did some amazing things over the years.

Jose Sarria Gay Advocate and Performer Dies at 90.

It doesn't take too much to be a hero here. Just live to 90 or more and be admired by me during your life.

Jose Serra was a drag queen and he reigned over the Imperial Court which is a society of drag queens.

He was a perennial performer where he worked, The Black Cat, and he ran for Supervisor of San Francisco. The first gay man to run as a gay man. He got over 5000 votes and Sarria said that after that there was no politician who ran who could ignore the gay vote.

I have not always been comfortable around drag queens. It took me some years to see that they and I are the same. I just am not into wearing a dress. There is no way that I could be a member of the Imperial Court.

But I know that, perhaps because they were the most obvious of "the gays", it was the dragsters that gave us Stonewall and many many other breakthroughs.

They would not pass.

And, neither will I.

Today, I have personal friends who are into the dress up and I find they are a lot of fun and take life in a way that I wish I could more of the time.

Labels: gay heroes, heroes