Garry McLain, SF Empress Marlena, dies

Garry McLain, a gay man who reigned as the San Francisco Imperial Court’s Empress XXV Marlena more than three decades ago, died October 5. He was 85.

Mr. McLain had been in hospice care for about the last week, his daughter, Pamala Harrington said in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. While Mr. McLain had suffered various health issues over the years, Harrington said he had no diagnoses at the time of his passing.

“It was just a tired body,” she said.

In addition to being a champion of the Imperial Court System, Mr. McLain owned and operated the World Famous Marlena’s bar at 488a Hayes Street in the city’s Hayes Valley neighborhood. It was a gathering place for LGBTQs and straight allies, and known for Mr. McLain’s fantastical display of hundreds of Santas at Christmastime. Mr. McLain sold the bar in 2012 and it is now known as the Brass Tacks. Until the end, Mr. McLain lived above the bar, his daughter said.

Marlena’s was a showplace for drag performances, the Mr. Hayes Valley leather contest, and much more, friends said.

“On behalf of the Mr. San Francisco Leather family, we thank you Marlena for all the years of love and support,” Ray Tilton, a gay man, wrote on Facebook. “From Mr. Hayes Valley Leather, the old Levi/leather bike clubs of years past and of course to the leather community in totality.”

“Marlena was honored with the judge emeritus title for Mr. San Francisco Leather in 2014 on the stage of the Power House and remained as such for the last 11 years,” Tilton added.

John Carrillo, a gay man who was Emperor XXVIII, lives below where Mr. McLain resided in Hayes Valley. He told the B.A.R. that Marlena was a big part of the neighborhood.

“The bar was very unique,” Carrillo told the B.A.R. “Marlena was unique in the way she accepted everybody and would be there for you. She welcomed everybody, straight, bi, gay, trans. She became your friend and an extended version of their family.”

The bar sponsored a team in the San Francisco Gay Softball League, gay rodeo, and other activities over the years, said Carrillo.

The Imperial Court System was founded by the late José Julio Sarria, who in 1964 crowned himself "Her Royal Majesty, Empress of San Francisco, Jose I, The Widow Norton" in homage to Joshua Norton, an eccentric city resident who in 1859 declared himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. The court system was started a year later, in 1965. Sarria, who died in 2013, was well known for performing in drag at the now defunct Black Cat Cafe in the city's North Beach neighborhood. He made history in 1961 with his unsuccessful attempt for a Board of Supervisors seat; it marked the first time an out gay person had sought elected office in the U.S.

Today, the Imperial Court has chapters in a number of West Coast cities, as well as throughout the U.S. There are also chapters in Canada and Mexico.

Working in tandem with the Tavern Guild, an association for gay bar owners in San Francisco, the Imperial Court each year crowns a new empress during elaborate coronation ceremonies. Elections for emperor were added in 1972, with the late Marcus Hernandez, a leather columnist for the Bay Area Reporter, crowned Emperor I After Norton.

Marlena was crowned Empress XXV in 1990 and reigned with Emperor Simeon. San Diego resident Nicole Murray Ramirez, who as Sarria's handpicked successor holds the title of Queen Mother I of the Americas, Canada, U.S.A., and Mexico, designated Marlena as Queen Mother I of California.

“Empress Marlena’s important legacy will be that she was a rare mentor of countless individuals who went on to become community leaders who went on to become community activists, titleholders, fundraisers,” Murray Ramirez wrote in a text message to the B.A.R.

“I had the honor to proclaim her ‘Marlena the Magnificent Queen Mother I of California’ because her mentorship touched LGBTQ people beyond San Francisco,” Murray Ramirez wrote. “Our community, indeed our continuing fight for equality, would be in a better place if there were more mentors like Empress Marlena the Magnificent.”

Marlena reigned as Empress 3 of the Imperial Owl Empire of Modesto, prior to coming to San Francisco.

Harrington, a straight ally, said that Mr. McLain helped other people with their own coming out journeys.

“I’m really going to miss him,” she said. “He was wonderful and a great example of generosity and kindness to the community. He instilled wonderful values in me as a kid and in my adult life and he still got to be a fun guy.”

Early life
Mr. McLain was born November 14, 1939 in California’s Central Valley. Harrington said that he graduated from high school there.

He divorced his wife and came out as a gay man around 1973, Harrington said.

“I believe he came out to himself four years before that,” she said.

Harrington has long had a good relationship with her father, as did her brother, also named Garry McLain. There was a kind of falling out years ago after Mr. McLain’s other son died by suicide, Harrington said.

“But we all came back together,” she added.

Harrington said she embraced her dad’s drag life.

“I felt like a princess some of the time,” she said. “I respected the way he lived his life the way he wanted to. I was proud of him.”

Harrington recalled that when Mr. McLain was involved with the Imperial Court chapter in Modesto, she got to help out during a drag production of “My Fair Lady.”

“I got to help make the roses for that,” she recalled. “It was fun.”

There was also a more serious side to the drag community’s activities, she noted.

“I loved being around them,” she recalled. “I got to find out – I learned – they’re the least prejudiced people on the planet.”

Garry McLain, Mr. McLain’s son, stated in a text message that he appreciated the outpouring of support the community has shown.

“I am very touched by the number of people and the wonderful things that have been said about my father on my sister’s Facebook post,” the younger McLain stated in a text message shared through Harrington.

In addition to his son and daughter, Mr. McLain is survived by eight grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and many Imperial Court friends and family.

An announcement October 9 stated that an Imperial state funeral will be held Saturday, November 8, at noon at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 1111 O’Farrell Street in San Francisco. Immediately following the service, a celebration of life honoring Marlena will take place at 2 p.m. outside of her former bar at 488 Hayes Street.

There will be special appearances by Empress Galilea hosting the return of the Hayes Street Follies starting at 2:30 p.m. That will be followed by a performance of SF Imperial Monarchs at 3:30 hosted by Carrillo and Empress Misty Blue.

The announcement noted that a block of hotel rooms has been set aside for that weekend (Friday-Monday) at the Hyatt Regency Downtown SOMA, 50 Third Street. For more information, call 415-974-6400. The code is G-IMC1.

Updated, 10/10/25: This article has been updated with funeral service information.