San Diego City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez, the Imperial Court Council’s international president, teamed with openly gay San Francisco City Supervisor Bevan Dufty to help rename a portion of a street in San Francisco after Imperial Court founder José Sarria.

The portion of 16th Street, between Pond and Prosper streets in the Castro, will be renamed José Sarria Court. The name change was unanimously approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Jan. 31.

The only location affected by the name change will be the Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Branch Library, named after Harvey Milk, San Francisco’s first openly gay supervisor, who was assassinated in 1978.

Sarria, 82, became the first gay man in San Francisco to have a street named after him. In 1999, a proposal to name a section of Market Street after Milk did not pass. That same year, one block on Myrtle Street was named after lesbian pioneer Alice B. Toklas.

“Since I’ve never had a street or boulevard or avenue named after me, it’s quite exciting,” Sarria told the Gay & Lesbian Times. “I was surprised that I’m still alive and they’re doing it. Normally, you have to be dead to have something like that done.”

It was at the Imperial Court’s 40th anniversary party in December that Murray-Ramirez first announced that he and Dufty were working to get a San Francisco street named after Sarria. Dufty was the keynote speaker at the event, and presented Sarria with a mockup of the street sign for José Sarria Court.

Murray-Ramirez first devised the idea to honor Sarria over a year ago when he learned of a proposal to have the Bay Bridge renamed after 19th-century San Francisco eccentric Joshua Norton. Murray-Ramirez then approached Dufty with the proposal.

Murray-Ramirez spoke to the Board of Supervisors at the Jan. 31 hearing in support of the street-renaming proposal.

“In reality, our governments and communities always seem to honor our trailblazers, pioneers and leaders after they pass away, when so many of these citizens have deserved such recognitions and honors while they are still alive,” Murray-Ramirez told the Board of Supervisors in a prepared speech. “… Now your great city has the chance to honor and recognize the Rosa Parks – yes, the queen mother, as it were – of the GLBT civil rights movement. José Sarria, like Rosa Parks in the 1960s, refused to be treated like a second-class citizen.”

Sarria first began his drag performance career in the late 1930s. After serving in World War II and returning home, Sarria became a gay rights activist and fund-raiser for the GLBT community. He frequently performed at the Black Cat Café in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood during the 1950s. He unsuccessfully ran for city supervisor in 1961, which made him the first openly gay man to run for political office in the U.S. He came in ninth out of 33 candidates.

Sarria then founded the Imperial Court System of Canada, United States and Mexico in 1965. The Imperial Court de San Diego was one of the first to expand Sarria’s vision to another city. The San Diego court will celebrate its 35th anniversary this year.

Dufty, who represents the Castro among other neighborhoods in District 8, thought it was important to recognize Sarria.

“As the first openly gay person to run for public office in 1961, his courage and vision inspired times to change,” Dufty said. “His candidacy foretold future generations of elected LGBT officials beginning with my predecessor, San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, and Massachusetts state Representative Elaine Noble.”

Dufty also said he is working on a proposal to help create a permanent home for San Francisco’s GLBT Historical Society on the Harvey Milk Library site.

About 20 neighbors who live along Pond and Prosper streets signed a letter opposing the renaming of the street and presented it at the Jan. 31 hearing. Jim Buckley, the neighbor who led the signature drive, announced that even though he voted for Sarria in 1961 and is happy to see him honored, he is still against the renaming.

“This change will not inconvenience anyone, and [it has] garnered the support of police, fire and public works departments, as well as our Assemblyman Mark Leno and state Senator Carole Migden,” Dufty said. “… There is a healthy distaste for street renamings, but I’m confident any static will subside over time.”

There has been a long history of opposition to street renaming in California. San Diego officials changed Market Street in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1986 to MLK Jr. Avenue, but a year later voters changed it back. In 1995, San Francisco’s Army Street was renamed Cesar Chavez Street in honor of late civil rights leader Cesar E. Chavez amidst an unsuccessful campaign to change the name back.

Dufty said a plaque will be installed in the sidewalk in front of the Harvey Milk Branch Library in honor of Sarria. A date for the ceremony has not been determined as of press time.