Nicole Murray-Ramirez, known as Empress Nicole the Great, The Queen Mother of the Americas within the Imperial Court System

Imperial Court System

The International Imperial Court System is one of the oldest and largest predominantly gay organizations in the world. The court raises money for charity through large annual fancy-dress costume balls in communities throughout North America and numerous smaller fundraisers each year...

, has been an LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 activist for over 55 years and is currently a San Diego appointed city human rights commissioner.

Within the Imperial Court System, Murray-Ramirez long held a leadership position as president of the Imperial Court Council and 1st Heir Apparent

Heir apparent

An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....

 to José Sarria

José Sarria

José Julio Sarria is an American political activist from San Francisco, California. Known for his years of performing at the historic Black Cat Bar in that city from the 1950s and 1960s, Sarria entertained patrons with satirical versions of popular songs and operas while encouraging them to live...

, the Widow Norton. At a Coronation Ball in Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

 on February 17, 2007, Sarria formally handed leadership of the organization over to Murray-Ramirez. The latter assumed the title "Queen Mother of the Americas".
In 1974, in his drag persona

Drag (clothing)

Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origin of the term "drag" is unknown, but it may have originated in Polari, a gay street argot in England in the early...

 as Empress of the Imperial Court de San Diego, Murray-Ramirez rode in San Diego's first Pride Parade in an open vehicle amid jeers from hostile spectactors. He was among the few to take the microphone and speak at the rally in Balboa Park immediately following. Regarding that day he said:

It was a scary and lonely march down Broadway...Nobody applauded. And most gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

 people didn't come out to the sidelines because they were afraid.

Murray-Ramirez was grand marshal

Grand Marshal

Grand Marshal is a ceremonial, military, or political office of very high rank. The term has its origins with the word "Marshal" with the first usage of the term "Grand Marshal" as a ceremonial title for certain religious orders...

 for that parade on its anniversary 30 years later, was grand marshal in Tijuana

Tijuana

Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...

's first pride parade, served as chair of the Chief of Police

Chief of police

A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...

 Advisory Board, has served on other state and national boards, was the first San Diegan elected to chair the board for Equality California

Equality California

Equality California or EQCA is a non-profit civil rights organization that advocates for the rights of LGBT people in California.-Early history:...

, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Diego Latino Coalition, and was presented the Caesar Chavez Humanitarian Award by the widow of César Chávez

César Chávez

César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....