When waiters at the Black Cat Café in San Francisco began pushing dining tables together at the front of the room, a murmur would ripple through the crowd. A performance was coming. The crowd would fall silent as a man stepped onto the makeshift stage. Less than five feet tall, he was dressed in red pumps, a tiara, tight black pants and a shawl. He wore cherry-red lipstick. In his hand: a single orchid. This was José Sarria, who in 1961 would become the first openly gay person, blazing a…
