The Court system is a collection of over 65 individual chapter courts established in Canada, Mexico, the USA, and, at last report, New Zealand. Established thirty years ago by Jose I, the Widow Norton, (Jose Sarria), in San Francisco, the Court has a long and interesting history.
www.impcourt.org

History of the Imperial Court in Arizona

Rise of the Phoenix
In the mid 1970’s, Arizona had two active Imperial Courts. The Imperial Court de Arizona, affiliated with the International Court system, was based in Phoenix and the Empire of Tucson, which chose not to affiliate, was based in Tucson. 

Flight of the Phoenix
Adrian was elected Empress I of the Imperial Court de Arizona and served several years in that position. The Emperor’s Halloween Ball was perhaps their best known event and people still talk about it 30 years later.

 More records survive of the Tucson Court thanks to the archives of the Observer which began as the Arizona Gay News in 1976 and continues through this day. Empress I Cicily and Emperor I Fernando helped introduce the city of Tucson to the Court System and hosted many successful fundraisers and raised awareness of various issues. Notably they won the Producer’s Trophy for best presentation of theme at the 1976 San Diego Coronation, the first coronation Tucson attended.

 Fire of the Phoenix
Both Courts only lasted a few years and then like the fabled Phoenix went up in Flames. The Imperial Court de Phoenix endured some politics, had a member run off with funds and had someone die during the Emperor’s Ball. The Court never recovered.

The Empire of Tucson deposed it’s first elected Emperor and its second elected Emperor abdicated to take a job in Texas. The two Courts maintained civil relationships in the best of times, but rarely cooperated with each other and after the loss of Emperor II the Tucson Court faded away.

 Rebirth of the Phoenix
The ashes settled and the Valley of the Sun went without a Court for 30 years. A spark appeared at a local Leather contest in 2005 when two previous Court members Jennifer Carol, a past Monarch from Waco, Texas and Steve LaFata, a previous Court member from Denver, Colorado crossed paths. The spark smoldered for a few months as an idea in the back of their heads and then after some successes in the community became an ember. They fanned the embers, recruiting others, finding support in the community and laying the proper foundations for a successful Court.

 Please join us as the Court rises from the ashes of its past and is reborn as the Imperial Sovereign Empire of Arizona.