Gay Guide to Palm Springs
In November 2017 Palm Springs swore in the first all-LGBTQ city council in the United States. Two of the incoming members made their own history doing it: Lisa Middleton became the first openly transgender person elected to non-judicial office in California, and later the state's first transgender mayor, alongside Christy Holstege. No other American city has a queer political majority that is simply the normal state of affairs rather than a milestone, and it shows in how relaxed the place is.
Warm Sands is the thing Palm Springs has that almost nowhere else does: an entire residential pocket of adults-only, largely clothing-optional gay men's resorts, most of them low-slung mid-century courtyard properties built around a pool. Inndulge, Santiago, Vista Grande, Desert Paradise, El Mirasol Villas, The Hacienda and Casa Oliver all sit within a few blocks of each other on and around Warm Sands Drive. Guests tend to move between them, so the district works less like a set of hotels than one dispersed resort.
Arenas Road is the nightlife half, a single walkable downtown block holding Streetbar, Chill Bar, Hunters, QUADZ, Dick's on Arenas and Blackbook, with GayMart on the same strip. Toucans Tiki Lounge sits further out on North Palm Canyon, Tool Shed covers leather on Sunny Dunes, and one eleven draws the Cathedral City crowd.
Palm Springs Pride takes the streets downtown in November, later in the year than most, which is a concession to the climate. Dinah Shore Weekend grew out of the crowd that came for the LPGA tournament and is now the anchor women's event of the spring. Cinema Diverse programs the film festival in the fall, and the Pride Monument stands in Frances Stevens Park year round.
The desert sets the calendar. Summer runs past 110F and the town empties out, so the season here is the inverse of most places: fall through spring is high season, and August is when you get a room cheap and regret it.