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thumb|The Imperial Court of New York's annual Night of a Thousand Gowns Coronation Ball in Times Square. Craig Hollywood, the 2007 emperor, with his current and two prior empresses.

thumb|The Imperial Court of New York's annual Night of a Thousand Gowns Coronation Ball in Times Square (2008)

The International Imperial Court System (IICS) also known as the International Court System is one of the oldest and largest LGBT organizations in the world. The Imperial Court System is a grassroots network of organizations that works to build community relationships for equality and raise money for charitable causes through the production of annual Gala Coronation Balls that invite an unlimited audience of attendees to be presented at Royal Court in their fanciest attire throughout North America along with numerous other fundraisers each year, all for the benefit of their communities. The Imperial Court System is the second largest LGBT organization in the world, surpassed only by the Metropolitan Community Church.

History

The Imperial Court System in the United States was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1965 by José Sarria. Sarria, affectionately known as "Mama José" or similar among Imperial Court members, adopted the stage name "Widow Norton" as a reference to Joshua Norton, a much-celebrated citizen of 19th-century San Francisco who had declared himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico in 1859.

Sarria soon became the nexus of a fundraising group with volunteer members bearing titles of nobility bestowed by yearly elected figurehead leaders of Emperor and Empress. In the United States, the first court outside of San Francisco was in Portland, Oregon, which joined with San Francisco in 1971 to start the Court System, followed by Seattle, and then by Vancouver (by the Empress of Canada, ted northe, who was crowned Empress of Canada in 1964 by the long-standing Rose Court of Portland Oregon and who always spelled his name in the lower case), who founded the Canadian Court System in 1971, after being inspired by attending a ball in Portland OR, and thus became the International Court System). These empires operated and formed policies more-or-less independently until an Imperial Court Council led by Sarria was formed to prevent participation by groups that were not strictly and solely involved with charitable fundraising.

For years, some chapters of the Canadian Imperial Courts remained outside the recognition of the Widow Norton and the Imperial Court Council for various reasons, some regulatory and some related to dispute over northe's title. Eventually ICS leadership recognized northe as The Empress of All Canada, which ended a substantial falling out between ted northe and the international court system. In 1997, northe was among the first recipients of the "José Honors Award" handed out by Sarria.

Infrequently, a schism within a court chapter has given rise to a "rogue court" unrecognized by the organization as a whole. Most of these so-called "rogue courts" or "rival courts" have collapsed and dissolved within a few years.

On 17 February 2007, Sarria (who turned 84 years old in December 2006) officially passed the leadership of the ICS to Empress Nicole the Great of San Diego, CA (real name Nicole Murray-Ramirez), who held the designation of Heir Apparent 1st in Line of Succession, in a ceremony held in Seattle, Washington.

Nicole the Great has been the titular leader of the ICS since. She uses the title of "Queen Mother I of the Americas" and has been assisted in this capacity by her Privy Council made up of Empress Coco LaChine of New York, NY, Emperor Rick Ford of Long Beach, California, Empress Milo of San Diego, California, Empress Jack-E of Reno, Nevada, Empress Panzi of New York, New York, Empress Remy Martin of San Francisco, and other Imperial Court Council members. Queen Mother Nicole the Great has created her own line of succession replacing those formerly so designated by Sarria. Like those monarchs in the former line of succession, these "Heirs Apparent" comprise the current day International Court Council. Avaughna Sanoir was selected as the new Empress of Canada in June. This title is currently not recognized by the ICS as of September 2014.

Chapters

The Imperial Court System over the past almost fifty years has grown to represent communities in 86 different locations across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Some realms cover entire states, such as Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa or Montana while others cover cities such as the city of Toronto or Buffalo, NY, counties or regions, the communities of Alameda County, California or the Greater Niagara Region.

Most chapters are Imperial Courts and are also known as "Empires". A few chapters are called "ducal court" (infrequently called a "duchy") or "barony" (infrequently called a "baronial court"). The term ducal court is typically used in the rare situation when one chapter's area overlaps with the territory of an already established chapter, as is the case with the Grand Ducal Council of San Francisco and the Grand Ducal Council of Alameda. The term barony is typically used when a new chapter has yet to fully be elevated to the level of infrastructure and successful fundraising characteristic with those chapters deemed full-fledged Imperial Courts. Except for the titles used by the monarchs (i.e. baroness rather than empress, etc.) baronial and ducal chapters function in essentially the same way as those chapters headed by Emperors and Empresses.

As the oldest chapter in the organization, the Imperial Court of San Francisco is considered the "Mother Court" of the Imperial Court System. The term "Mother Court" is also used for a court chapter who grants the recognition and establishment a new court. For example, the Imperial Court of New York is the Mother Court of the Imperial Court of Rhode Island at Providence.

The office of monarch is taken very seriously within the court system and requires a large commitment of the holder's time and money. Accordingly, while the presence of an "imperial couple" is the norm, it is not uncommon for an emperor or empress to reign alone depending on the availability of suitably dedicated and charismatic candidates with the necessary resources to fulfil the requirements of a one-year reign.

Fundraising

Due to the decentralized nature of the organization and inconsistent record keeping in some chapters early in their histories, it is difficult to estimate the total amount of money raised by the ICS. Proceeds from the Imperial Court of New York City's renowned "Night of a Thousand Gowns" have resulted in as much as $67,000 donated to its charitable recipients in a single weekend. Since its inception, the Imperial Court de San Diego has raised at least $1 million. In 2008 (Reign 22), The Imperial Court of Toronto awarded their charities $60,000 under Emperor 22 Hunter James and Empress 22 Tiffany Louise-Charles.

Each court conducts numerous fundraisers throughout the year. Drag shows, ranging in size from performances at local bars to events in hotel ballrooms and other large venues, are the main way in which revenue is raised for charity. Especially in recent years, court chapters have diversified their fundraising strategies to include yard sales, gift raffles, etc. Court members also solicit donations at LGBTQ events, gay pride parades and other public events.

Imperial Court chapters donate the funds raised to a variety of causes including those related to AIDS, breast cancer, domestic abuse, and homelessness. Empires have also established or contributed to a variety of scholarships. Court chapters receive frequent recognition by elected officials and celebrities for their humanitarian contributions.

Unlike many other large charitable fundraising organizations, the Imperial Court System is composed entirely of volunteers. There are no paid positions within the Imperial Court System and both the culture of the Court System and the regulations set down by the boards of directors of each chapter prohibit any member from profiting from the Imperial Court or its activities. Rather, depending on individual level of involvement with the system, many court members spend hundreds or thousands of dollars of their own money each year on costumes, travel to events in other parts of North America, and donations to various charitable beneficiaries.

Membership

Most members are homosexual and transgender people, but membership is open to all. Gay, bisexual, transgender and straight people have all served as monarchs and court members. Drag queens and other sorts of cross-dressers collectively comprise about half of the membership.

The Court System also appeals to people interested in various forms of costume and dress-up who are willing to lend their enthusiasm to the court's culture of charitable fundraising. Included among these are people involved with the leather fetishism and leather subcultures, members of the Society for Creative Anachronism and similar historical reenactment hobbyists, various types of cosplay enthusiasts, and so on.

Most court members, especially monarchs, past-monarchs and those aspiring towards a throne, wear an assortment of regalia including elaborate crowns, bejeweled chains of office and other costume jewelry which is often custom-made for the wearer.

Many court members are involved with other LGBT groups, especially non-profit groups that provide charitable services directly rather than providing the funds for such services as ICS does. Besides these, two specific spheres of activity have relevance to ICS history:

Competitive pageantry: Some court members have also been involved with competitive pageantry, especially drag pageants and the various leather competitions through which people may qualify for International Mister Leather. Like the ICS, these competitions provide an opportunity to garner titles while showcasing one's appearance and talents. Some court chapters grew out of the sphere of competitive pageantry and some courts conduct annual competitive "Mr. Gay. .." and "Miss Gay. .." (or similarly named) pageants as part of their fundraising schedule.

Ball culture: Less frequently, the Imperial Court System has had overlapping membership and joint ventures with drag houses of the type documented in Paris is Burning. For example, during the 1990s the annual "Snow Ball" in Hartford was both a coronation and a competition in which contestants did "walks" in various specific categories in order to win trophies. The ICS has innumerable "houses" within its ranks as mentioned above. However, unlike ballroom scene houses such as The House of Xtravaganza and House of Labeija, houses within the IICS are not an important means of organization within the group and there is no limit to the number of houses to which a person can belong.

See also

  • List of LGBT-related organizations
  • Drag ball

References

  • https://internationalcourtsystem.org/