For the Ladies: Boudoir Entertainment Creates Parties Where Lesbians Can Be Themselves

On a warm and breezy Saturday evening, the night’s festivities were just beginning at Georgie’s Alibi, at Azul in downtown Palm Springs.

You could feel the bass thumping from the music as you walked up the stairs to Georgie’s Alibi. Once inside, the pink and purple lights, bumping music and beautiful ladies set the mood just right for a night of dancing and socializing—and it was all happening thanks to a fairly new group called Boudoir Entertainment.

Boudoir Entertainment, also known as B.E., is an entertainment group that has a goal to “satisfy the nightlife needs for lesbians and queer women in the Coachella Valley in a unique atmosphere BY and FOR women,” according to creators Delfina Zarate, Alexis Ortega and Marie Elloso.

However, Boudoir Entertainment events aren’t just for women who like women; B.E. prides itself on not being an exclusive organization, in an effort to bring together the community.

“In order for us (Boudoir Entertatinment) to be successful, we need to be welcoming to all people in the community, not just in the LGBTQ community,” says Ortega.

Zarate echoes that statement. “Our organization is set apart from others in the community because Boudoir Entertainment is community-based and all about giving back.”

These three ladies want to support the community that they grew up in and that helped shape them into the women they are today. The three 20-somethings were all raised in the Coachella Valley, where regular events designed for gay men are prevalent—while events for lesbians are fewer and farther between.

Thus, Boudoir Entertainment is filling a void—while demonstrating a dedication to community. B.E. has helped out with multiple fundraising events for local nonprofit organizations. The most recent event Boudoir Entertainment helped promote was the sixth annual Mid-Summer Dance Party at the Ace Hotel and Swim Club, a benefit for the Desert AIDS Project.

Boudoir Entertainment has also donated money from its own activities as well. The group gave around $850 to the FIND Food Bank, by pledging a quarter of the profits from Boudoir’s 2013 Dinah Shore event, and by offering a raffle with a local hair salon.

Zarate, who works as a bartender, maintains that is it is her responsibility to “promote Boudoir (Entertainment) so it can be recognized for its value in the community.” Ortega, a Stanford grad and Palm Springs native who works for the Desert AIDS Project, is the woman in charge of social media, marketing and promoting the brand of Boudoir Entertainment, which is described as being “luscious, refreshing, alluring, mesmerizing, and ecstasizing” on the website. Elloso, a College of the Desert student, is the first contact who all newcomers encounter when they attend any Boudoir Entertainment event. She is also responsible for bringing in local talent, such as burlesque dancers and DJs, to perform.

According to Zarate, the idea of Boudoir Entertainment is to develop a “safe and comfortable space for lesbian and queer women to come together to hang out and socialize … to provide an atmosphere for women to be themselves, to be free to be who they want to be.”

Based on the growing interest and number of supporters, these ladies must be doing something right.

Boudoir at Georgie’s Alibi, at Azul, 369 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, takes place at 9 p.m., every other Saturday; the next event is on Saturday, Aug. 17. There is no cover. For more information and a complete calendar of events, visit boudoirnightlife.com, or look them up on Facebook.