On Saturday, Aug 2, Imperial Court members from across the country gathered at the U.S Grant Hotel for the coronation of Emperor and Empress XXXII of the Imperial Court de San Diego. Empress I Jose, who founded the Court system — which was in existence before Stonewall and will soon celebrate 40 years — also took part in the ceremony, which was produced by All Worlds Video owner Rick Ford and dedicated to all American GLBT veterans, military men and women.

Robi Cox, a co-owner of Bacchus House bar in North Park, was crowned as Emperor XXXII and Christina Monet was crowned as Empress XXXII. The 2003 President’s Award went to Jess San Roque, Executive Director, APICAP; the Mrs. Alma Vasic Business Award went to Bob Lehman and Tom Felkner, owners of Bourbon Street; the Empress I Tawny Tann Memorial Award went to Emperor 25 Noel, aka Empress 30 Miss Katrina Yen; and the Sixth Annual Queen Eddie Community Service Award went to Ren Petty. Sir Stepher Potter was inducted as a Knight and Lady Maria Galleta as a Dame of the Imperial Family de San Diego.

Empress Nicole the Great, President of the International Imperial Court Council, described the Court, which has chapters in 68 cities in three countries and is the second largest international GLBT organization, as the “GLBT Shriners and Elks.”

“When the community [in San Diego] started there were only three other organizations — The Center, MCC, Dignity and the Court — and there was no other fundraising organization,” Empress Nicole told the Gay and Lesbian Times. “The Court raised the seed money for the first AIDS Walk and the first Gay Pride, and helped The Center at the beginning.… When AIDS first started, all we had was the AIDS Project, which was totally educational.… We used to ship [those with AIDS] to LA and San Francisco because we didn’t have any place for them to go or a system to support them. We were all in a state of shock. I’ll never forget, my emperor and I immediately called a meeting on the patio at #1 Fifth Ave. and we founded the AIDS Assistance Fund, which then established a food bank. We would put people in hotels because they were being thrown out of their apartments.… It was a horror story. To this day we still claim bodies and bury brothers and sisters who can’t afford it and whose parents reject them and won’t have anything to do with them.”

In keeping with the Court’s mission as a social services funding organization, Emperor XXXI Rafael Holguin and Empress XXXI Sybil Stunning raised over $70,000 during their 2002-2003 reign. Among the monetary awards given out at the coronation were: $5,000 sponsorship of the Live and Let Live Alano Club’s 25th anniversary dinner; $15,000 to MCC’s building fund over the next three years; $2,000 to The Center’s domestic violence program; $9,000 in student scholarships; $5,000 to three Tijuana AIDS agencies; $5,000 sponsorship of APICAP’s 10th anniversary dinner; $1,400 to AVER; $1,000 to Bienestar; and $1,000 to OutFest.

This year’s coronation was also notable for its diversity. One of the candidates for Empress, Linda Childers, is a straight woman who has a gay son, and the audience included members from almost every community in San Diego.

“The Court is the only organization in this entire city where you truly — be it a Court meeting or event — see the vast diversity of our community,” said Empress Nicole. “You saw Asians, Latinos, Latin-Americans, straights, transsexuals, leather — they’re all involved in our organization.… San Diego’s Court is known for its diversity. We welcome everyone, and we’re proud of our diversity.… Probably our weakest thing, which drives me crazy, is every other court across the country has had lesbian monarchs constantly. We’ve only had one. My wish is that we will in the future have more lesbian Emperors or Empresses.… I think the lesbian community doesn’t realize how welcome they are and how much we want them to be part of this.”

Imperial Court meetings are held every third Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. at The Center, and anyone can join. The next meeting will be held Aug. 20. For more information, call (619) 692-1967.