WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National LGBTQ Task Force is congratulating the International Imperial Court System on their 50th anniversary. The Court System, one of the nation’s oldest LGBTQ community service organizations, will be hosting its Golden Jubilee Gala State Dinner at the Sentinel Hotel in Portland, Oregon Oct. 23 to celebrate its anniversary.
“Congratulations to the International Imperial Court System for reaching an impressive milestone. For decades, the Court System has helped raise critical funds and support for the work to secure basic rights and protections for LGBTQ people,” said Russell Roybal, National LGBTQ Task Force Deputy executive director.
Since 1961, the International Imperial Court System has grown to include 68 local court chapters in cities throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Each local chapter elects a royal court and members volunteer their time on a wide array of community service projects. In the 1960s and 1970s, court chapters helped build LGBTQ community centers and organized LGBTQ pride parades across the country. In the 1980s, the Court System worked to defeat Anita Bryant’s anti-LGBTQ campaigns and raised funds to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Most recently, the court successfully lobbied the U.S. Postal Service to issue a Harvey Milk commemorative stamp. Last year, the National LGBTQ Task Force and the Court System launched a campaign to secure a commemorative stamp for Bayard Rustin—the late openly gay Civil Rights Movement leader.
For more information about the International Imperial Court’s go here.
