EDGE San Francisco

Cher A Little Smith (a.k.a. Jonathan Eklund) and John-John (a.k.a. John F. Weber) became San Francisco royalty last weekend after being crowned the 2008 Empress XLIII and Emperor XXXVI, respectively.

Elected by community vote, the winners were announced during the Imperial Court of San Francisco’s Coronation Ball Saturday, February 23 at the Gift Center Pavilion.

It is the second time in the 43 years since the inception of the Imperial Court that both winners are persons of color. The first year was 2000, when John Carillo was crowned Emperor and Suzie Wong was crowned Empress.

Although Jose Sarria (a.k.a. the Absolute Empress I the Widow Norton), who founded the International Imperial Court system in 1965, was hospitalized the morning of the Coronation, the show went on and nearly 300 people attended the celebration.
The annual Sunday morning pilgrimage to Emperor Joshua Norton’s gravesite in Colma, however, was canceled due to Sarria being in the hospital. Carillo, this year’s Coronation Ball co-chair, said that Sarria was admitted to Davies Medical Center on Saturday morning and stayed until Monday for observation.

Sarria did not, in fact, have a heart attack, as originally thought, but was suffering from symptoms of asthma. Carillo said that Sarria attended an Imperial Court meeting on Monday night in "full fiery spirit" and returned to his home in Palm Springs on Tuesday.

Members of Imperial Courts from around the country, including Alameda, San Diego, Long Beach, Colorado Springs, Phoenix and Alaska, attended the weekend’s activities and shared the stage Saturday night with San Francisco Imperial royalty. Every attendee was decked out in beautiful outfits featuring leather, glitter, makeup, crowns and hats.

Many members of the San Francisco community attended the coronation, including members of the Alexander Hamilton Post 448, the AIDS Emergency Fund, the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, the Gay Rodeo Foundation, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

The evening began with the singing of the Mexican, Canadian and U.S. national anthems, followed by musical acts featuring songs from Grease and West Side Story and a procession of all of the members of the community that were present. Before the announcement of the winners, each candidate for Emperor and Empress performed musical acts.

Smith, 44, has been involved in the Imperial Council of San Francisco for eight years and was involved in the Imperial Court of Spokane, Washington for eight years (she was crowned Empress of the Imperial Court of Spokane in 1991-1992).

"I don’t think that it’s sunk in yet," said Smith of her win on Sunday. "It’s still a shock to me, but I’m so excited."

Weber, 37, served as Mr. Gay San Francisco 2007 and has been involved in the Imperial Council system for four years. He said that he would like to make sure his Empress looks fabulous in the coming year.

"I’m excited that the community spoke loudly and clearly for me to be Emperor and that I had such great support and so I’m feeling humble and rejoice-full inside," said Weber. "I would like to bring the message that everybody has value in our community. That’s our message this year."

The two will spend the next year raising funds for local charitable organizations and hosting numerous social events.