LGBTQ+

Your Guide to LGBTQ+-Owned Businesses in Palm Springs and Beyond

Your Guide to LGBTQ+-Owned Businesses in Palm Springs and Beyond

Michelin-recognized dining, modernist architecture, storied Hollywood hideaways … People don’t visit Palm Springs for drab, that’s for sure. But they do visit for drag. And that upscale sense of spectacle Palm Springs is famous for informs many LGBTQ+-owned spaces in Palm Springs and Cathedral City, catering to those with a taste for something above average. Here are 13 essential stops for a posh, queer-focused experience.

Lights Up the Stage

Lights Up the Stage

Tommi Rose has been entertaining audiences in Greater Palm Springs since 2002. Look for Tommi on Toucan's float at Sunday's Greater Palm Springs Pride parade.PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY TOMMI ROSEThe night began at a bar on July 3rd in Daytona Beach. But when...

Anything But a Drag

Anything But a Drag

Bob the Drag Queen comes to Greater Palm Springs Pride for a Nov. 5 show at Hotel Zoso.PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACOB RITTSAfter being crowned the popular winner of season eight of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Bob the Drag Queen has conquered all they survey.Since the...

Events, Tickets, Specials, and Good Reads

Wake Up With the Desert

Each morning, Palm Springs Life curates good reads and insider recommendations of the best things to do across Greater Palm Springs. Get The Daily Guide for fresh ideas, local flavor, and a daily dose of inspiration that’s actually worth reading.


Hitting its Stride

Hitting its Stride

Phil Catalli (left) and Lee Walton were recognized for founding the Palm Springs Front Runners and Walkers when they were named Community Grand Marshals of the 2011 Palm Springs Pride Parade.PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY PALM SPRINGS FRONT RUNNERS AND...

Paula Abdul Is Forever Your Girl

Paula Abdul Is Forever Your Girl

"Hands down, I wouldn't have the career that I have without the community embracing me," says Paula Abdul about performing at the Sunday Tea Dance that concludes White Party Palm Springs on May 1.PHOTOGRAPHY BY SARAH KRICKPaula Abdul is ready to party....

Coming Out

Coming Out

Max Von Essen joins Scott Nevins as part of the entertainment at "The Chase" that is "light on the talk, and heavier on the entertainment and fun."PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY DAP HEALTH / MICHAEL LURIE PHOTOGRAPH BY JENNY ANDERSONThe change will be immediately...

LGBTQ+ History: Why We Went to Cathedral City

LGBTQ+ History: Why We Went to Cathedral City

The Barracks in Cathedral City originally opened as the Wolf Den in 1992.PHOTOGRAPH BY JIM POWERSThis year, The Barracks bar is celebrating 30 years of operation as the oldest continually operating gay bar in Cathedral City. Opening in 1992 as Wolf’s...

White Party Back in Full Color

White Party Back in Full Color

The Sunday Tea Party held in the parking lot adjacent to the Palm Springs Convention Center is full of music, lights, a ferris wheel, and headliner entertainment.PHOTOGRAPHY BY IGGY LOPEZIt’s been nearly three years since the last White Party Palm...

LGBTQ+ History: First Lesbian Hotel in Palm Springs

LGBTQ+ History: First Lesbian Hotel in Palm Springs

Eadie Adams, who was the first female singer with Kay Kyser and his orchestra, opened the first lesbian hotel in Palm Springs in 1968.PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY LGBTQ+ HISTORY & ARCHIVES OF THE DESERTIt is well documented that women have played a major...

Good Fortune

Good Fortune

Kataluna Enriquez is a resident performer at AsiaSF in Palm Springs.PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIFFANY L. CLARKKataluna Enriquez, who became the first openly trans woman to compete at the Miss USA pageant last year, is back on stage as a resident performer at...

“Living Out” in Palm Springs

“Living Out” in Palm Springs

Living Out, a 55 and older LGBTQ+ community set to open in 2023 in Palm Springs, will have an on-site restaurant for residents and 122 apartments.RENDERING COURTESY KOAR INTERNATIONALLiving Out, an all-LGBTQ+ senior community in Palm Springs, will cater...

Serving Up Love

Serving Up Love

The Palm Springs Open, last played in 2019, returns Nov. 26-28 with one of the largest LGBTQ+ tennis tournaments in the country.PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY DESERT TENNIS ASSOCIATIONTennis courts will be busy during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend when the...

In a Good Place

In a Good Place

Brad Fuhr (left) and John Taylor interview Bob Bogard on KGAY Radio.PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY BRAD FUHRBrad Fuhr waited until he was 30 before coming out to his parents in the form of a letter.“This was before the internet," recalls the Palm Springs...

Preserving History

Preserving History

Hidden among the lantana and under a tree is a time capsule on Arenas Road in Palm Springs that is slated to be opened in 80 years.PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY DAVID GRAYIt’s easy to walk right by it. Situated in an island that jets out onto Arenas Road between...

Greater Palm Springs Pride Weekend Events, Nov. 4-7

Greater Palm Springs Pride Weekend Events, Nov. 4-7

PHOTOGRAPH BY STEVE PARRISAll events are free unless noted. For lineups of the four live entertainment stages and further information, visit pspride.org.Thursday, Nov. 4 – Sunday, Nov. 7Exhibition: Sharing Our Desert’s LGBTQ+ HistoryThe Welwood Murray...

Place of Pride

Place of Pride

Streetbar opened in 1991 as the first gay bar in Palm Springs.PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL BRITDavid Farnsworth remembers walking into Streetbar in Palm Springs and immediately sensing a connection.“It was queer Cheers for me," says Farnsworth in reference to the...

Chasing Rainbows in Palm Springs

Chasing Rainbows in Palm Springs

Artist Yvette Mattern's "Global Rainbow" has appeared all over the world, including this installation at Edinburgh, Scotland.PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM DUFFINAfter her first visit to Palm Springs three years ago, Yvette Mattern pictured a rainbow decorating the...