Goodbye to the Restaurants That Welcome Log Cabin Republicans

When I was a boy growing up in Richmond, Va., steps away from the Confederate White House, the main shopping thoroughfare downtown was Broad Street. The “right side” of Broad Street was where Miller & Rhoads, and Thalhimers were: the WHITE side. The other side was where “Colored folks” shopped—generally.

Officially segregation was over, but in reality, not so much. Occasionally a Black patron—usually a well-dressed middle aged woman—would venture across. No one would say anything, but I knew what people were thinking: “She’s one of the good ones”—clean, respectful, NORMAL.

Our late friend Joseph J. O’Donohue IV was a wealthy “queer” in the 1920s and ’30s. “That’s what we called ourselves then,” he would opine in his wickedly upper-crust Manhattanese. “Queer.”

This queer child of privilege partied stateside in Harlem and in Berlin, Germany, to which he sailed for the 1936 Olympics: the so-called Nazi Games. Evidently, he had a ball, several. When queried as to if he had ever slept with a Nazi, his reply: “God yes. LOTS of them.”

According to Josie, all the previously shuttered gay and Jewish clubs (for which Berlin was famous) were wide open for the Olympiad. You know, your kinder, gentler fascism. Some of the clubs featured Jewish singers who had been dubbed “Honorary Aryans” because of their talent. Look it up.

Within two years, Joe had repudiated Hitler’s regime publicly in the press and was working to help Jewish and gay friends escape Hitler’s new “Normal” German Reich. One of his lovers died in the camps.

I was reminded of all of this while reading about last weekend’s “Normal Gay” event planned by the Log Cabin Republicans in Palm Springs.

Good One. Honorary Aryan. Normal Gay. Despicable.

Donald Trump and his twisted troglodyte minions are worse than the schoolyard bullies who called me “fairy Perry” on the playground, or burned my wrists with cigarettes during military-school hazing. I’ve spoken with some of those boys in the years hence, and they have grown, grown out of it, learned and evolved.

The owners of the restaurants who have welcomed the group, and the Log Cabin (sorry, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”) Republicans themselves, are all (and I think they’d approve of this descriptor) free, white and 21. They know what they’re doing, and they should know better. They’ve drunk the MAGA Kool-Aid. They make me nauseated. They are nauseous.

My husband and I have transgender friends, family members and clients. We certainly didn’t know until the Trumpian Rapture that drag queens were a threat to our nation’s youth or to the cultural calendar at the Kennedy Center. This attempt to divide the LGBTQ alphabet between “us” and “them” has nothing to do with pronouns and everything to do with power.

I’ve never been a big fan of “cancel culture.” During COVID, when some restaurants played fast and loose with pandemic restrictions, I chalked it up to the crazy, frightening time that it was. This is different. As my Grandma used to say, “The best way to kill a plant isn’t to cut it down. It’s to stop watering it.”

Sadly, for the foreseeable future, these restaurants will not be on our list of watering holes. They have shown the capacity to just be mean. I will not judge nor shun you if you choose to imbibe there. However, I won’t be joining you. We will take Dionne Warwick’s advice and walk on by.

Bye, Felicia.

David Eugene Perry

Palm Springs Has a Choice: Quality of Life or Corporate Profit?

The proposed Chick-fil-A fast-food drive-through project in Palm Springs threatens both our environment and community well-being.

The data supporting this project is outdated, relying on a 2005 environmental report when the area was mostly undeveloped. Today, traffic congestion is already a major issue, and a triple-lane drive-through with 49-plus idling vehicles will only worsen air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution.

Palm Springs has committed to sustainability through its Climate Action Plan and Blue Zone Project, prioritizing quality of life over corporate convenience. Fast-food drive-throughs increase urban sprawl, waste and harmful emissions while failing to align with our city’s vision for a healthier future.

Instead of catering to outdated business models, we should demand responsible development that enhances our community, not degrades it. I urge city leaders to enact a moratorium on drive-through developments and ensure that future projects align with our environmental and public health goals.

Let’s preserve the unique character of Palm Springs and prioritize the well-being of residents over corporate profits.

Scott Connelly