Gay Desert Guide: Week of June 14, 2021

It’s reopening week in #ILoveGayPalmSprings and throughout California.  Those of us in the media are no clearer on what the new regulations are – and neither is the state who is in charge of enforcing them.  So patience and a little caution should be the watchwords for the foreseeable future.
As the desert heats up for a frying pan week, having more indoor space and fewer restrictions couldn’t come at a better time.
We’ve added that second “Golden Girls” event with season one writer Stan Zimmerman and Alexander Rodriguez on June 24th.  And just announced a pre-party at PS Homeboys with selfies and a chance to win a two seats to the event precede  on Wednesday, June 23rd.
We’ve added a “drag correspondent” to our roster:  My friend and neighbor Dante Noto is a huge RuPaul’s Drag Race fan who has been at recent Ross Mathews’ Bubbly Brunches.  He’s going to be writing a preview of the ALL STARS Season 6 for our site and did a nice recap of the star-sighting from V Wine Lounge.
We also welcome the reopening of Trunks in Cathedral City this week and mark your calendars for the Pride month “tour d’ bars” happening next week.  As always, the GayDesertGuide.LGBT events calendar keeps you updated.
Brad Fuhr, your Gay Desert Guide 
#ILoveGayPalmSprings
#ILoveGayCatCity
#ShopLocal and … #WeArePalmSprings

Remembering the Golden Girls: Second Show Added!

The Fun & Games Dept of Gay Desert Guide SOLD OUT our first presentation of An Evening on the Lanai: Remembering the Golden Girls, so we bring you a second show on Thursday, June 24 at 7:00 p.m. at Oscar’s, just one week away! Join season one writer Stan Zimmerman for fun trivia, clips from favorite episodes, prize giveaways, sing-alongs, and Q&A. Hosted by on-air personality Alexander Rodriguez from On the Rocks with Alexander and a regular guest on the #ILoveGayPalmSprings podcast. Check out Palm Springs Life’s interview with Zimmerman [here]. Act fast before this one sells out too! Get tickets
And we’re going to be hosting a meet and greet with Stan and Alexander on Wednesday, June 23 at PS Homeboys, just across the street (in the former Peepa’s space). Check for details on our events calendar. We’ll give away a pair of tickets to the show and you can have your photo taken “in bed with” the hosts!

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Pride TV Trivia Party: Golden Girls & More

Gay Desert Guide’s Fun & Game’s Dept and TheMenEvent.com present PRIDE TV Trivia Party! Golden Girls + Hit TV shows of the 70s, 80’s & 90s on Wednesday, June 16 at 4:00 p.m. on Zoom. Celebrate The Golden Girls and your favorite TV shows including Brady Bunch, Rhoda, Dallas, Laverne and Shirley, Gilligan’s Island, Mary Tyler Moore, Mash, The Jeffersons and many more! This night of fun, conversations and lunacy is so entertaining because we make the questions easy and enjoyable for everyone. Celebrated Gay comic Oscar Aydin (a self professed Golden Girls Expert) will be your host. Get ready to laugh! Get tickets

Women’s B.A.M. Salon for June

The LGBTQ Center of the Desert presents B.A.M. Salon (Book and Movie Salon) for women hosted by Flynn Sylvest and Irma O’Dell on Tuesday, June 15 from 7:00–8:30 p.m. and every 3rd Tuesday, monthly. The group’s purpose is to develop and deepen LGBTQ+ community and connection through stimulating and informative conversations about books and movies that highlight women authors and women’s stories and experiences. This first salon will feature the book “And Playing the Role of Herself,” by K.E. Lane. More info

Desert Stonewall Democrats June Meeting

It’s time for the Desert Stonewall Democrats’ annual legal and legislative update on issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community, on Tuesday, June 15 at 5:45 p.m. on Zoom. They have also announced a date for a return to in-person meetings: September 21 will be the first post-pandemic General Meeting, in-person at the Mizell Senior Center. Registration is required for this week’s Zoom meeting. More info

Talk of the Town: Redistricting Basics

One PS’s Talk of the Town presents: California Redistricting Basics on Tuesday, June 15 at 5:30 p.m. on Zoom. J. Ray Kennedy, Commissioner, California Citizens Redistricting Commission, will give an educational redistricting presentation without public comment. Kennedy is one of 14 members selected to serve on the redistricting commission. More info

LGBTQ+ Tour of the Harlem Renaissance

Gay Desert Guide’s Fun & Games Dept. and TheMenEvent.com present LGBTQ+ Tour of the Harlem Renaissance—As Gay As it Was Black on Wednesday, June 16 from 4:00–5:30 p.m. on Zoom. Join Corey Serrant of Swann Galleries and discover the LGBTQ+ side of the Harlem Renaissance, from Langston Hughes to Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday to James Baldwin! Get tickets

Good Grief! Support Group

Good Grief! is a drop-in group offered by The LGBTQ Center of the Desert, meant for those struggling with actual or anticipated loss, grief, or bereavement. Meetings are Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. via Zoom, facilitated by Amy Prescott, Clinical Trainee and Sean Ferri, Registered Psychological Assistant. More info

Listen and Launch Party: Hold Me the Forgotten Way

TigerBear Productions will launch its digital micromonologue production of playwright Harrison David Rivers’ Hold Me the Forgotten Way with a listening party and Q&A on Wednesday, June 16 at 5:00 p.m. Consisting of seven brief audio monologues, Rivers’ cycle explores intimate confessions made in public spaces about love and sex, produced in collaboration with six remarkable queer theaters across the country, from San Francisco, Chicago, San Diego, Atlanta, and New York City. More info

15th Annual LGBTQ Community Survey

Please take part in the Community Marketing & Insights (CMI) 15th Annual LGBTQ Community Survey! Participation in this survey gives important feedback to our LGBTQ community media and organizations, and provides data to companies interested in serving our community, sponsoring our charities, and supporting their LGBTQ employees. The survey should take about 12 to 15 minutes to complete. Make your voice heard! [Click here to take the survey]

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Virtual Events at The Center

The LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert continues to connect people, using the technology of group-meeting platform Zoom, which you can use on your computer, tablet, or smartphone. Here’s just a taste of their programs:
Social Caring in the Face of Quarantine with Alexis Ortega – Mondays at 11:00 a.m.
Zumba for Beginners with Shaun Samaro – Mondays at 10:00 a.m. Returns June 14
Managing Emotions During a Pandemic with Jill Hingston, Ph.D – Tuesdays at 11:00 a.m.
Fifty+ Fit with Lynn Simonson – Tuesdays at 11:00 a.m.
Prostate Cancer Support Group – 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 4:00 p .m.
Trans Tuesdays with Jill Hingston, Ph.D – Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.
Seated Wellness with Lynn Simonson – Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.
Women’s Chat with Kim Kieler – Thursdays at 10:30 a.m.
Men’s Chat with Stuart Huggins – Fridays at 10:30 a.m.
LGBTQ+ Youth Virtual Hangout with Miguel Navarro – Fridays at 2:00 p.m.
Who Cares: Caregiver Support Group with Perry Wiggins – Fridays at 3:00 p.m.
Full list of The Center’s Zoom programs [here]

I Love Gay Palm Springs Podcast – Episode 101

John Taylor, comedian Shann Carr and Gay Desert Guide Brad Fuhr with special guests: Steven Biller of Palm Springs Life, restaurantHER Mindy Reed, artist Dylan Smith, Kim Kieler from the LGBTQ Center of the Desert and Executive Producer of the film “Forgive Us” Alex Woodruff.
The #ILoveGayPalmSprings Podcast is broadcast on Facebook Live, Fridays at 11:00 a.m. The#ILoveGayPalmSprings Podcast is also available on Apple TV, Roku TV, Amazon, FireTV and Android devices via OutAt.tv. Tune in Friday mornings at 10:00 a.m. (or later on-demand) to stream us to your TV. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio and more!

THIS WEEKEND

Juneteenth Events: Discussion and Wine Tasting Fundraiser

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day, is on Saturday, June 19, and we have some local events to mark the day. First, Lucy and Gail present a Juneteenth Day Facebook Live discussion event: The Myth of Freedom–Black Life After Juneteenth from 10:00–11:00 a.m., with journalist Gail Christian and writer and cultural activist Alexis DeVeaux [More info]. Then at 4:00 p.m., Bouschet is bringing you a Juneteenth Wine Tasting Fundraiser for Brothers of the Desert, featuring Tierra y Vino, a Black-owned winery, whose owner Caren Rideau will be on hand to walk you through five varietals. [More info]

Brothers Got Talent feat. Nhojj

Brothers of the Desert present a hybrid Brothers Got Talent event on Friday, June 18 from 7:00–8:00 p.m. on Zoom with a watch party at Bouschet, featuring singer/songwriter and poet Nhojj. Raised in Guyana and Trinidad, he has recorded 6 albums and published 3 books. Winner of 4 Outmusic awards, Nhojj has shared stages with Norah Jones, Regina Belle and Estelle. Free event. More info

Cinema Under the Stars Final Weekend

The Palm Springs Cultural Center continues to run their outdoor Cinema Under the Stars program, but just two weekends remain before they close it for the season on June 19. Camp-out in your own chairs or reserve one of the available picnic tables; you may also pre-order a boxed dinner from Mildred’s Chicken & Waffle Dinners! On Friday, June 11 the film will be “Back to the Future: Part III,” and on Saturday, June 19, it’s Best Picture Oscar winner “Moonlight” in honor of Juneteenth. Get tickets

LGBTQ History Through the Voices of Those Who Lived It

Gay Desert Guide’s Fun & Games Dept. and TheMenEvent.com present LGBTQ History through the Voices of Those Who Lived It on Sunday, June 20 at 11:00 a.m. on Zoom. Join Eric Marcus of the Making Gay History Podcast as he draws on his archive of rare recorded interviews with LGBTQ trailblazers to tell the early years of the LGBTQ rights movement. In more than a hundred interviews in the late 1980s, Eric set out to capture the stories of the movement’s largely unsung heroes before old age or AIDS claimed them. The resulting book was published in 1992 under the title Making History; the revised 2002 edition was titled Making Gay History. Get tickets