’Tis the season … when all sorts of great things are happening in the Coachella Valley.
First, looking backward: I want to thank all of the participants in and attendees of the various October events in which the Independent played a part. Our Three-Year Anniversary Event on Friday, Oct. 16, was well-attended and well-reviewed, and our second series of concerts at Chill Bar, benefiting the Community Food Bank at the Center, featured great music and happy attendees every Thursday.
The Independent is also proud to have been a sponsor of a number of fine October events that benefited great causes, including the Equality Awards (Oct. 10), the Desert AIDS Walk (Oct. 17), and the Casual Concours car show (Oct. 24). This weekend, we’re sponsors of the LGBT Center of the Desert’s Center Stage event (Oct. 30) and Palm Springs Leather Pride (Oct. 29-Nov. 1).
Whew. No wonder we’re tired!
Now, looking forward: Come by our booth and say hello at Greater Palm Springs Pride! We’ll be there from start to finish on Saturday, Nov. 7, and Sunday, Nov. 8. (More on Pride below.) We’re also elated to be a sponsor of the Desert AIDS Project’s Dancing With the Desert Stars show, happening on Friday, Nov. 13.
Now, looking forward even further: Depending on when you’re reading this, we are either about to wrap up final-round voting in our Best of Coachella Valley poll, or we just did wrap it up. (If it’s not yet 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 2, it’s the former … so get thee to here and vote, if you haven’t already!) We’ll be releasing the winners’ list at CVIndependent.com on Wednesday, Nov. 25, and in our December print edition. Also, keep an eye out for details on our second annual Best of Coachella Valley party and awards show!
If you’re bored in the valley this time of year … something’s wrong with you.
Pride and the Power of Place
Not too long ago, there were few places in this country that gays and lesbians could call their own.
In the first half of the last century, it was taboo to be out and proud. Men seeking other men had to hide—in plain sight—clues in their clothing to signal to other men in the know.
As gay men and lesbians slowly began to come out, make their presence known and fight for their rights, places such as gay bars and community centers began to pop up. In the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, these places were epicenters of the urban LGBT world—places where members of the LGBT community could come, meet each other and feel safe.
In the last 20 years, however, the rise of the Internet and the increasing acceptance of gay men and lesbians into mainstream society have meant these places are no longer as necessary as they once were. Men seeking other men today don’t need to go to a gay bar to meet a potential date. There’s no longer the need for an LGBT community center to promote meetings and gatherings when that can be done easily and efficiently with an online Meetup listing.
As a result, many of these once-vital places are blinking out of existence. Google “gay bars closing,” and you’ll find numerous stories about decreasing numbers of LGBT bars in cities across the country. In many communities, LGBT centers are struggling or closing their doors—for example, Wingspan, the LGBT community center in Tucson, Ariz., faded away last year.
While it’s hard to find LGBT-centered places in the central and eastern Coachella Valley (trust us; we tried … if you know about any such places, please let us know about them), such is not the case in Palm Springs. Thanks to a large population of gay men with time and money, gay bars are thriving. The LGBT Community Center of the Desert is growing.
As Greater Palm Springs Pride approaches—itself bucking the trend by growing larger than ever in its last two years—we’ve decided to pay tribute to the continuing importance of LGBT places in the western Coachella Valley, with two stories: a piece on the aforementioned LGBT Community Center of the Desert and its plans to expand into a new building; and a slice-of-life story on what you’ll find at Arenas Road’s Score Bar when it opens at 6 a.m.—the earliest opening time of any bar in downtown Palm Springs. (These stories serve as our cover package in our November issue, by the way.)
As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated; my email address is here.