News Briefs: SF Imperial Council marks Sarria’s 103rd birthday

The Imperial Council of San Francisco will celebrate the 103rd birthday of late Empress I José Julio Sarria with a benefit Saturday, December 13, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Cafe, 2377 Market Street. Sarria, a Latino drag queen and veteran, died August 19, 2003 at the age of 90.

Sarria founded the Imperial Council in 1965. He made history in 1961 with his unsuccessful attempt for a Board of Supervisors seat; it marked the first time an out gay person had sought elected office in the U.S. Sarria was inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2023.

According to a news release, “An Evening of Mystique” will feature entertainment by luminaries from the Imperial and Ducal courts of San Francisco, highlighting performers who sing live in drag in Sarria’s honor.

Known as “The Nightingale of Montgomery Street,” Sarria gained fame as a singing waiter and drag performer in the 1960s at the Black Cat Cafe in the North Beach neighborhood that was a hub for the nascent LGBTQ community, according to the release. The Imperial Council of San Francisco celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. Today, the Imperial Court has chapters in a number of West Coast cities, as well as throughout the U.S. There are also chapters in Canada and Mexico.

Emcees for the evening will be Empress 30 Donna Sachet and Emperor 36 After Norton John Weber. The release noted that there will be a raffle (drawing at 8:30) and silent auction, including works by local LGBTQ artists such as Serge Gay Jr., Phillip Hua, Anthony Anchundo, Devlin Strand, and photographer Gooch, who also contributes to the Bay Area Reporter.

Admission is free.

For more information, go to sfimperialcouncil.org/events.

Drag Story Hour marks 10 years
Drag Story Hour will celebrate its 10th anniversary with an afternoon event Sunday, December 14, from noon to 5 p.m. at the main San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin Street. The event is free and open to the public.

Local Latina trans icon Per Sia, who was named San Francisco’s second drag laureate in late October, will be on hand, a news release noted. She was the first drag queen to read for Drag Story Hour, the release stated.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is poised to declare December 12 as Drag Story Hour Day in the city.

Drag Story Hour was created in 2015 by Michelle Tea and RADAR Productions, under the leadership of Julián Delgado Lopera and Virgie Tovar, the release stated. What began as drag queens reading books to children in libraries blossomed into a global phenomenon.

The anniversary will reunite original storytellers from the Bay Area. Storytellers from founding chapters across the country, including representatives from Indigenous Drag Story Hour, will join the festivities.

The event is made possible with generous support from the Zellerbach Family Foundation, the Svane Family Foundation, and the San Francisco Public Library, according to the release.

For more information, go to dragstoryhour.org/10years.

 
Holiday event at Sunset Dunes
The fourth annual Jingle on the Way event returns to San Francisco’s Sunset Dunes Park Saturday, December 13, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., bringing the holiday spirit to the coast. A news release noted that Jingle on the Way is a celebration for city families, featuring an afternoon of professional photos with cargo bike Santa, a climb-aboard play train for younger visitors, make-your-own holiday cards and a holiday carol singalong led by local musician John Elliot.

The event is sponsored by Friends of Sunset Dunes Park and the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department.

For more information, go to sunsetdunes.org/events/jingle-on-the-way .

MCC-SF selects permanent pastor
The Reverend Daniel Borysewicz, a queer man, was unanimously chosen, with one abstention, to become the permanent called senior pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco. The vote was by the quorum present at its annual congregational meeting Sunday, December 7. Borysewicz had been serving as interim provisional pastor of that same church since March 17, 2024.

Borysewicz said the church currently has 30 voting members; of those 23 were present, with 22 of them voting to select him and one person online abstaining.

A news release stated that Borysewicz was ordained by the MCC denomination at MCC-SF in 2015. He then served on the San Francisco Night Ministry staff for six years and subsequently also held hospice chaplaincy positions in the East Bay before coming to MCC-SF in 2024.

Born into a military family, Borysewicz spent his high school years outside of Utica, New York. He then followed in his father’s footsteps to do military service as an aviation electrician’s mate in the U.S. Navy from 1979-1983.

After the Navy, Borysewicz worked in various fields, from sales then nearly a decade in tech to mental health and finally in HIV prevention. In 2004, he began to attend Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona as a non-traditional student. He transferred to the University of Arizona in 2007, receiving his undergraduate degree there in anthropology with a focus on religion and queer studies in 2009.

Eventually, Borysewicz found his way to San Francisco and from there to the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, where in 2013, he earned his master’s of divinity and a certificate in sexuality and religion. He is now working on his doctorate degree.

As a queer cisgender pastor of European descent, Borysewicz believes it is essential for a church to meet people where they are, especially those living in the margins, and to stand up for injustices that affect the marginalized and oppressed.

Borysewicz leads worship services Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 9 a.m. at MCC-SF, which is located in the St. Mary’s Chapel of Trinity-St. Peter's Episcopal Church at 1620 Gough Street.

For more information, go to mccsf.org.