Here
are roasted scallops in a lemony garlic sauce served with fresh green
beans. A bright and unique flavor combination. Pair this with either
rice or pasta and you have a hearty feast.
This
is a great meal to honor one of the Latino LGBT heroes whose early
pioneering work lead to many of the freedoms we enjoy today. His life
added a bright color and flash to help define the community we enjoy
today. Please read the short article on Jose Sarria following the
recipe.
Ingredients:
1
(12oz) pkg Patagonian
scallops,
frozen*
1
stick butter
½
tsp Old Bay
1
lbs fresh green beans
1
pkg fresh mushrooms
½
yellow onion, chopped
1.5
cups whipping cream or combination with half & half
½
cup of Parmesan cheese
Salt
and pepper to taste
*Patagonian
scallops are tiny,
less than an inch wide. They taste sweet and fresh. Being frozen,
they need to be thawed before you cook them. Package suggest thawing
them overnight or still sealed in bag under cold water for 30
minutes.
Directions:
Pre
heat the oven to 400
degrees.
Line a rimed baking sheet with foil.
Mince
the garlic and onion into a small bowl.
Zest
the lemon and squeeze juice into the garlic.
Snap
the ends off of the green beans and rinse.
In
a sauce pan melt the butter over low heat. Add the old bay. Let that
melt down while stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and lemon
mixture. You don't want it to brown.
Put
the green beans and mushrooms in a large bowl. Pour most of the
garlic butter mixture on them and stir everything until well coated.
Spread
out the mushrooms and green beans on the tray.
Put
this in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Heat
what is left of the garlic & lemon over medium heat and add 1
cup cream or half & half. Bring to a gentle simmer, while
stirring occasionally to thicken. Season with salt and pepper to
your taste.
After
10 minutes has passed, sprinkle the scallops across the tray. Return for another 10 minutes.
When
the shrimp and green beans are done, serve with the sauce on the side
and a bowl of
pasta or rice.
For
our music:
José Julio Sarria
Known
as The Grand Mere, Absolute Empress 1st
de San Francisco, and the Widow Norton (1922 – 2013) Sarria was a
LGBT activist who, in 1961,
became
the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United
States.
An
early LGBT activist, Sarria co-founded several homophile
organizations, including the League for Civil Education, the Tavern
Guild and the Society for Individual Rights. In 1964
Sarria declared himself "Empress José I, The Widow Norton"
and founded the Imperial
Court System,
which grew to become an international association of charitable
organizations.
When
looking for work, Sarria had entered a drag contest at an Oakland
bar. "I decided then to be the most notorious impersonator or
homosexual or fairy or whatever you wanted to call me–and you would
pay me for it."
One
night at the Black Cat club in San Francisco, Sarria recognized the
piano player was doing Bizet's Carmen so he began singing the arias.
Sarria was quickly billed as "The
Nightingale of Montgomery Street".
Initially he focused on singing parodies of popular torch songs.
Soon, however, Sarria was performing full-blown parodic operas in his
natural high tenor.
Sarria
always extolled the patrons to be as open and honest as possible.
"People were living double lives and I didn't understand it. It
was persecution. Why be ashamed of who you are?" He told the
clientele, "There's nothing wrong with being gay–the crime is
getting caught", and "United we stand, divided they catch
us one by one".
At
closing time he would call upon everyone to join hands and sing "God
Save Us Nelly Queens"
to the tune of "God Save the Queen". Sometimes he would
bring the crowd outside to sing the final verse to the men across the
street in jail, who had been arrested in raids earlier in the night.
Speaking
of this in the film Word
is Out,
gay journalist George Mendenhall said:
“It
sounds silly, but if you lived at that time and had the oppression
coming down from the police department and from society, there was
nowhere to turn ... and to be able to put your arms around
other gay men and to be able to stand up and sing 'God Save Us Nelly
Queens' ... we were really not saying 'God
Save Us Nelly Queens.'
We were saying 'We have our rights, too.'”
Jose
Sarria fought against police harassment. Raids on gay bars were
routine, with those taken into custody charged with such crimes as
being "inmates in a disorderly house". While charges were
routinely dropped, the arrested's names, addresses and workplaces
were printed in the newspapers.
When
charges were not dropped, the men usually quietly pleaded guilty.
Sarria encouraged men to plead not guilty and demand a jury trial.
Following
Sarria's advice, more and more gay men began demanding jury trials,
so many that court dockets were overloaded and judges began expecting
that prosecutors have actual
evidence against
the accused before going to trial.
Sarria
ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1961,
becoming the first openly gay candidate for public office in the
United States. Although Sarria never expected to win he almost did
win by default.
On
the last day for candidates to file petitions, city officials
realized that there were fewer than five candidates running for the
five open seats, which would have guaranteed Sarria a seat. By the
end of the day, a total of 34 candidates had filed. Sarria garnered
some 6,000 votes in the citywide race, finishing ninth. This was
not enough to win a seat but was enough to shock political pundits
and set in motion the idea that a gay voting bloc could wield real
power in city politics.
"[He]
put the gay vote on the map", said Terence Kissack, former
executive director of the GLBT Historical Society. "He made it
visible and showed there was a constituency."
As
Sarria put it, "From that day on, nobody ran for anything in San
Francisco without knocking on the door of the gay community."
In
1962,
Sarria formed the Tavern Guild, the country's first gay business
association. The Guild raised money for legal fees and bail for
people arrested at gay bars and fought police harassment.
José I, The Widow Norton
Sarria
helped found the Society for Individual Rights (SIR) in 1963.
SIR sponsored many functions, including bowling leagues, bridge
clubs, voter registration drives and "Candidates' Nights".
In association with the Tavern Guild, SIR printed and distributed
"Pocket
Lawyers".
These pocket-sized guides offered advice on what to do if arrested or
harassed by police.
Crowned
Queen of the Beaux Arts Ball in 1964
by the Tavern Guild, Sarria, stating that he was "already a
queen", proclaimed himself "Her
Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, José I, The Widow Norton".
Sarria devised the name "Widow
Norton"
as a reference to the much-celebrated citizen of 19th century San
Francisco, Joshua Norton, who had declared himself Emperor of the
United States and Protector of Mexico in 1859.
Sarria's
assumption of the title of Empress led to the establishment of the
Imperial
Court System,
a network of non-profit charitable organizations throughout the
United States, Canada, and Mexico that raises money for various
beneficiaries.
Sarria
was honored in 2005 with the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration
Committee's Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal Award. On May 25,
2006, Sarria's lifetime of activism was commemorated when the city of
San Francisco renamed a section of 16th Street in the Castro to José
Sarria Court.
Sarria
reigned over the Imperial Court System until 2007.
Jose
Sarria died of adrenal cancer at the age of 90
on August 19, 2013, at his home in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.
Obituaries and tributes to this leader appeared around the world.
So
happy to honor this legendary Latino LGBT hero.
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