Often erroneously credited as a founder of the group, Sister Boom Boom actually joined the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in 1980, several months after its founding. His persona's full name was
Sister Rose of the Bloody Stains of the Sacred Robes of Jesus, which—when spoken—would trail into a sing-song cadence and a long
fermata. In 1982, Sister Boom Boom ran for a seat on the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors with
agitprop campaigning tactics bringing humor and raising issues he felt were being ignored in the race. He won 23,124 votes with his occupation listed as "Nun of the Above". Five supervisors were elected; he placed eighth. After he started campaigning for mayor in
the 1983 recall election against incumbent
Dianne Feinstein, San Francisco passed an
ordinance requiring candidates to use only their
legal names on the ballot. This was commonly called the "Sister Boom Boom law". Boom Boom is one of the characters in
Emily Mann's play
Execution of Justice about the trial of
Dan White for the
1978 assassinations of
George Moscone and
Harvey Milk. Moscone was
mayor of San Francisco and Milk was the city's first openly gay supervisor. In the
Broadway production, Boom Boom was played by
Wesley Snipes. Fertig retired Sister Boom Boom in 1985, and joined a
sobriety program. == Personal life ==