Twenty years ago, Donna Sachet started her adventure in San Francisco and the City has applauded her fun-loving spirit, quick wit, and musical talent ever since. She reigned as Miss Gay SF in 1993 and as the thirtieth elected Empress of SF in 1995-96. Outside of San Francisco, her appearances have included Washington, D.C. at the foot of the Washington Monument, Sydney, Australia for Gay Mardi Gras, New York City's Marriott Marquis on Broadway, Los Angeles' Metropolitan Community Church with the cast of Mama Mia, and Chicago's San Francisco Party at the International Mr. Leather Competition. She has shared the live stage with Lily Tomlin, Harvey Fierstein, Bruce Vilanch, Rita Moreno, Carol Channing, Abigail Zsiga, Wesla Whitfield, Paula West, Olympia Dukakis, Britney Spears, and the late Nell Carter, to name a few.
Donna has received many awards, including the 1995 AIDS Emergency Fund Darrell Yee Award, 1996 Cable Car Entertainer of the Year, 1997 International Jose Honor, 2000 Alice B. Toklas Lesbian & Gay Democratic Club Community Service Award, 2001 American Association of Political Consultants Pollie Award, 2002 designation as Leather Empress by the Leather Community, 2004 Sainthood from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, 2005 Bob Cramer Humanitarian Award, 2005 SF Police Officers Pride Alliance Award, 2007 Heritage of Pride Award, and 2009 Academy of Friends Kile Ozier Founder's Award.
Accolades have come her way from five San Francisco mayors, the City Board of Supervisors, the State Legislature, and the esteemed Herb Caen. She co-chaired the SF GLAAD Media Awards for 4 years, co-chaired the 2010 first Harvey Milk Diversity Brunch in SF, and has served on the Board of Directors of the AIDS Emergency Fund, Positive Resource Center, the Imperial Council, SF LGBT Community Center, State Board of EqualityCalifornia, and LGBT Advisory Committee to the SF Human Rights Commission. With Mr. SF Leather 1996 Gary Virginia, she co-created the annual Pride Brunch, now in its 13th year, honoring the Grand Marshals of the Pride Parade and benefiting Positive Resource Center. She is most proud of her annual Songs of the Season musical variety show benefiting the AIDS Emergency Fund for the past 18 years.
Donna has served as national spokes model for Smirnoff Twist Vodka and local face of Halloween in the Castro for 3 years, co-anchored the live television coverage of the June SF Pride Parade for 8 years, co-hosted Comcast's weekly LGBT television talk show, OUT Spoken, for 5 years, and can be heard singing on the benefit holiday compilation Carols Across America. She was selected as a Community Grand Marshal for the 2005 SF Pride Parade and hosted RSVP cruises in 2006-7, including the historic all-Gay Queen Mary 2 transatlantic crossing. On the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, her name was included on the plaque honoring 40 Trans-Heroes placed in the original location of the Stonewall Inn. Donna was profiled in the Pink Section of the SF Chronicle on June 22, 2008, appeared on the cover of the SF Bay Guardian as a local hero in 2010, and was recognized by the Bay Area Reporter's first Best of the Gays Readers' Poll in 2011 as Best Drag Act. Donna was the first recorded drag personality to address the Commonwealth Club of California and the first drag performer to sing the National Anthem for a major league team, the SF Giants at AT&T Park in fall of 2009.
In her years on the International Court Council, she is proud to have served as Civil Rights Liaison to the Queen Mother, has written regularly for the International Court Communique, spearheaded the largest single 2009 ICC related fundraiser for the Matthew Shepard Foundation in SF, hosted a 2010 welcome party in SF for the leadership of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, and was instrumental in the first Transgender Summit in Los Angeles in 2010.
Donna Sachet currently writes a biweekly column for the Bay Area Reporter, provides a quarterly LGBT newsletter to San Francisco Travel (formerly SF Convention & Visitors Bureau), and stars in Sunday's A Drag every week at Harry Denton's Starlight Room atop the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in Union Square. She remains one of the most sought after emcees, singers, fundraisers, and hostesses in San Francisco.
