Nicole Murray-Ramirez
Nicole Murray-Ramirez (born 1935), also known as Empress Nicole the Great, The Queen Mother of the Americas within the Imperial Court System, has been an LGBT activist for over 45 years and is currently a San Diego appointed city human rights commissioner. Murray-Ramirez was elected the chair of the San Diego Human Relations Commission (HRC) for four terms. The San Diego Human Rights Commission comprises leaders from the Religious, Latino, Asian-Pacific Islander, African American and Native American communities appointed by the mayor and the City Council. Murray-Ramirez was first appointed by then-Mayor  Dick Murphy, and reappointed by Mayor Jerry Sanders. When first elected four years ago, he was the first openly gay man elected as chair. Murray-Ramirez was unanimously elected chair by the fellow commissioners. Murray-Ramirez has served the last five mayors of San Diego, and was elected as the chair of the first mayor's GLBT Advisory Board and the first GLBT Advisory Board to the chief of police. As of 2021, Murray-Ramirez is a vocal supporter of Blue Lives Matter, a rebuttal to Black Lives Matter and the civil rights movement. Murray-Ramirez has been a Latino  and gay activist for 45 years serving in roles as past national board member of the Human Rights Campaign, past National Chair of LLEGO, the National Chair of Stonewall 25, and the only gay activist in the country who has been elected to all four national boards of the Marches on Washington, DC. He was also elected chair of the Millennium March. He is the past State Chair of Equality California and is currently serving a four-year term on the national board of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. He was also appointed by the county Board of  Supervisors to the Regional Task Force on AIDS in the 1980s and has served as a county deputy marriage commissioner. Within the Imperial Court System, Murray-Ramirez long held a leadership position as President of the Imperial Court Council and 1st Heir Apparent to José Sarria, the Widow Norton. At a Coronation Ball in Seattle, Washington 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 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 spectators. 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 people didn't come out to the sidelines because they were afraid. Murray-Ramirez was grand marshal for that parade on its anniversary 30 years later, was grand marshal in Tijuana's first pride parade, served as chair of the Chief of Police Advisory Board, has served  on other state and national boards, was the first San Diegan elected to chair the board for Equality California, 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 In 2012, Murray-Ramirez successfully spearheaded the renaming of Blaine Street in the Hillcrest neighborhood, to Harvey Milk Street. Achievements. Founder Public service HIV/AIDS Awards / honors Commissioner Ramirez's nearly 45 years of social justice and charity work has been recognized by countless awards and honors within the countries of Mexico, Canada and the United  States, including: