453rd Star Announced For Walk of the Stars Palm Springs

PALM SPRINGS, CA — Jose Julio Sarria is being posthumously honored by Walk of the Stars Palm Springs. Sarria will receive the 453rd Star on the Walk of the Stars Palm Springs. The Star will be unveiled at 2 p.m. Monday at The Downtown Park in Palm Springs.

The Star Dedication Ceremony is open to the public.

Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce's CEO Nona Watson spoke on the upcoming ceremony for Sarria, who was a singer, an activist, an empress, a World War II Veteran, and a political candidate. Sarria was dubbed the Nightingale of Montgomery Street for his “operas” at the Black Cat Café from 1949-1963.

“The Chamber is honored to host the star ceremony for Jose Julio Sarria, giving him the 453 rd star,” Watson said.

Sarria was the first openly gay political candidate to run for public office in 1961; and was the founder of the International Imperial Court System, the oldest and largest international LGBTQ+ organization. In 1996, Sarria made his way to Palm Springs, where he resided for nearly a decade before his death in 2013.

Shortly before Sarria's death, the San Francisco Pride Board created the Jose Julio Sarria History Makers Award to honor the LGBTQ+ community who make newsworthy accomplishments and post-death.

He was honored on the Rainbow Honor Walk in San Francisco and was one of the inaugural fifty American “pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes” inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument at the Stonewall Inn in New York City.

Gene Brake, Founder and Chair of the Jose Sarria Foundation, spoke on the occasion.

"I am so excited to see Jose enshrined in the Walk of Stars. As the ‘mother’ of the gay community, he gave birth to a political movement as well as an entire community while teaching us how to live our authentic lives as equal members of our society,” Brake said. “As Jose neared the end of his life, he feared people wouldn't remember his contributions and many of us committed to make sure that wouldn't happen. This helps make good on that commitment and the star's location near his favorite actress Marilyn Monroe is perfect. I think he would be proud."

For more information, contact nwatson@pschamber.org or call the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce at (760) 325-1577.