Nicole Murray Ramirez is a Latino drag queen better known as “Empress Nicole the Great,” and is a longtime LGBTQ+ and Latino rights activist in Southern California.

Murray was born in San Bernardino, California, to Mexican parents, whose expectations for him were high, especially from his father. He was involved in politics to protect Mexican American veterans from discrimination. This was the first reason Murray wanted to get into politics because of his father’s influence over him.  As he grew older, he started to notice that not many Latinos were in office and he wanted that to change.

Murray realized he was gay during the 1950’s, and during that time, growing up gay was not safe, and afraid of being discovered, he ran away to Hollywood. Once there, he told his parents about his sexuality and wasn’t accepted by them. After living in Hollywood for a while, he began to hear about Stonewall and met some other activist like Morris Kight where they discussed ideas. Murray eventually joined the Imperial Court System in San Diego during 1974 which was the first LGBTQ+ organization in the city.

Murray began his activism for LGBTQ+ rights with people like Harvey Milk and his mentor Jose J. Sarria, but he didn’t stop there. He also began fighting for Latino rights alongside Ceasar Chavez. Murray hasn’t stopped and doesn’t plan on stopping his activism and representation for both the LGBTQ+ and Latino community.  Over the course of his life, he has served the national chair for both LLEGO and Stonewall 25, and was the first Latino to be elected state chair of Equality California.

Murray has continuously advised the last eight mayors of San Diego including the current mayor Todd Gloria. Murray has stated many times that he will keep on advocating for all peoples rights until his last breath.