Gay Desert Guide Weekend: June 19–21, 2020

Now that our new website is launched and humming along, we thought it time to find more “virtual” things to do until we have in person events back. Sure, there are bars and restaurants opening, but many of us are still cautious about going out on the town.

Brad Fuhr, your Gay Desert Guide.

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This Friday is Juneteenth

Also known as Freedom Day, this Friday, June 19th is Juneteenth, a commemoration of the end of slavery. Though the Emancipation Proclamation had freed slaves formally two and a half years earlier, June 19, 1865 was the day when when Union general Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, Texas, that all previously enslaved people in Texas (which was remote and slow to enforce the Proclamation) were free. Celebrations to commemorate this day go back to 1866 and there is an effort to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday.

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Conversations in Community: Race and Black Lives Matter

The LGBT Community Center of the Desert presents a discussion on Zoom on Thursday, June 18 at 5:30 p.m. Conversations in Community: Race and Black Lives Matter will be facilitated by Lex from The Center and will be an opportunity for questions and support around the intersections of race and LGBTQ identities. More info

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Desert Rose Playhouse: Quarantine Concert Benefiting Black Lives Matter

On Friday, June 19 at 5:00 p.m., Desert Rose Playhouse presents their second virtual “Quarantine Concert,” benefiting Black Lives Matter. The performance will feature 25 local and surrounding theatre company performers and will be available through a link posted to the Desert Rose Playhouse Facebook page [here]. Donations will be contributed to Colors of Change.

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I Love Gay Palm Springs Podcast – Episode 50

Shann Carr’s Big Gay Virtual Scavenger Hunt

From the new “Fun & Games Department,” Gay Desert Guide is hosting a series of fun virtual events with hostess Shann Carr! Join us on Saturday, June 20 from 4:00–6:00 p.m. for the Big Gay Scavenger Hunt At Home Edition where everything you need to win is within your home or apartment. Rolls of toilet paper, potted flowers, photo albums, cleaning products and more are all in play for a hilarious night of fun and conversations! Your host will have a list of regular (and some not so regular) items that people may find around their living space. Once we post an item you will have 15 seconds to find it. Each item found will result in points for prizes! At the end of the home hunt we’ll sit back laugh and enjoy a toast together to when we can hang out in person. Free event, registration required. More info

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Voices of Hope – Together, We Thrive

Desert Aids Project (DAP) is proud to deliver the gift of music with their Voices of Hope – Together, We Thrive livestream event on Friday, June 19 at 7:00 p.m. Tune in for free on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter and enjoy a star-studded, uplifting, joyous hour packed with a mix of your favorite Broadway, TV, and film entertainers, many who are longtime friends and supporters of DAP’s mission, including Kristin Chenoweth, Betty Buckley, Matthew Morrison, Megan Hilty and many more! Those who are able, may consider registering with a ticketing and donation package. Your paid ticket package at all levels benefits DAP’s COVID-19 response. More info

Check out Coachella Valley Independent’s detailed interview with Darrell Tucci, DAP’s chief development officer, discussing DAP’s COVID-19 response and the Voices of Hope event [here].

Take out. Dine in. Watch Together.  Plan to order dinner from one of the Valley’s Dining out for Life partners who are currently open for take-out or delivery. Let’s lift them up as they have done for all of us for decades. Together, we’ll dine in – tune in – and THRIVE! Visit the DINING OUT FOR LIFE International (DOFLI) list here. 

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2020 ShortFest is Here

2020 ShortFest will be a virtual event this year. The Official Selection has been announced [learn more] with a selection of those films available for screening on their website for free from June 16–22, the original dates of the festival. Some are available to stream for the entire festival, others are available for a 24-hour window.  There are also virtual classes and panels with industry guests as part of the ShortFest Forum. More info

Bookmark This: 10 Must-See ShortFest Selections from the festival’s Artistic Director, Lili Rodriguez

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Comedy and Magic at The River

Max Mitchell presents Coachella Valley’s hottest standup comedians and one cool magician in the Amphitheater at The River in Rancho Mirage premiering Friday, June 19, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. and continuing on the first and third Friday every month. Show is FREE with general seating and tons of room for social distancing. This friday, performers include comedienne extraordinaire (and I Love Gay Palm Springs Podcast’s very own) Shann Carr, with Kevin Davis, Max Mitchell, Hugh & Co., and Kris Bossi. More info

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Miss Richfield Bingo Bonanza

Outlandish presents Bingo Bonanza with Miss Richfield 1981, online Monday and Thursday nights at 5:00 p.m. Watch and play along as Miss Richfield turns your living room into a church basement! All ages welcome. More info

Another Outlandish favorite, Miss Coco Peru, has been doing live chat, Q&A, and even singing in Casa Coco, her weekly livestream. These free events do “sell out,” but the next Casa Coco will be on Wednesday, June 24 at 6:00 p.m. and tickets are available on Thursday, June 18 [here]

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CVRep Theatre Thursday: Writer’s Panel

Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre presents their next installment of Theatre Thursdays on Thursday, June 18 at 6:00 p.m. for a Writer’s Panel with Samantha Dunn, Cathy Kaye, Luis Rodriguez and Corey Roskin. Hear from these experts on writing inspiration and technique! Registration required for this FREE program. More info

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Virtual Cinema: Pride Month Features

The Palm Springs Cultural Center is offering some great new films this week in their Virtual Cinema program, including two celebrating Pride Month: THE SURROGATE is a complex and empathetic conversation starter that follows Jess, a 29-year-old Brooklynite who is thrilled to be the surrogate for her best friend and his husband. When a prenatal test comes back positive for Down syndrome, however, it creates a moral dilemma that threatens their friendship [view trailer]. FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO is a new documentary that explores the intersection of religion, sexual orientation and gender identity in current-day America. [view trailer] [get your V-ticket]

Also coming soon:
The Palm Springs Cultural Center is turning their parking lot into a Drive-In Movie Theater. Learn more

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Pickford Popcorn Pickup

Mary Pickford Theatre – D’Place Entertainment continues to offer freshly popped Movie Theater Popcorn Saturdays from 4:00–7:30 p.m. Guests can get their fix of movie theater popcorn and a selection of other movie night snacks (drinks, candy) with convenient curbside pickup. 100% of proceeds go to support staff at D’Place during the COVID-19 shutdown. Email and phone ordering ahead of time with pre-payment is available. More info

D’Place Entertainment has also recently posted some new Guest Information about what you can expect when the time comes to once again open their doors, including limiting the number of tickets sold to each screening, the use of masks, snack refill limitations, facility cleaning, and employee health. Learn more

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Hendry Wine Tasting at Bouschet

The Bouschet crew invites you to join them on Saturday, June 20 at 2:00 p.m. for a wine tasting with Wine Gal Lisa Wherry, featuring a 2019 Hendry Rose, 2018 Albariño, 2017 Hendry Zinfandel, 2017 HRW Cabernet Sauvignos, plus a “Surprise Wine.” Limited seating available inside PS Air, or you can do pickup/delivery and participate via Zoom. More info

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Palm Springs Art Museum Online Exhibition: Helen Lundeberg

The Palm Springs Art Museum presents another in their series of online exhibitions: Helen Lundeberg. A founder of Subjective Classicism (Post-Surrealism), Lundeberg explored geometric abstraction, creating works in restricted colors and palettes that hover between abstraction and figuration. In the 1960s and 1970s, her work focused on landscapes, interiors, still lifes, and planetary forms, and her last body of work, created in the 1980s, featured landscapes and architectural elements. View here

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HUMP! Greatest Hits

The HUMP! Film Festival, which was in Palm Springs for its 2020 tour just a week or two before COVID lockdown, finished the tour online this year and now they are back with new virtual screening: Greatest Hits, Volume 1. The selection will be streaming every weekend, June 20–July 10. Check out the trailer below and Get tickets

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Palm Springs Certified Farmers’ Market Now Indoors

The Palm Springs Certified Farmers’ Market can now be found next to the Palm Springs Cultural Center at the Palm Springs Pavilion, Saturdays from 8:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. As always, safe shopping practices are being followed. Check out the Market’s “Tips for Shopping the CFM in Uncertain Times” [here]

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LOOKING AHEAD

NEXT WEEK: Gay Virtual Speed Dating: Age 55+

Shann Carr is hosting a series of fun virtual events as part of the new Fun & Games Department at GayDesertGuide! Join us on Wednesday, June 24 from 6:00–8:00 p.m., for Virtual Gay Speed Dating: Age 55+. Register ahead of time to secure your spot. This event is exclusively for gay men 55 and over (we have plans for other ages and themes). Once you register, you will receive an email from our team with all the instructions on how to join speed dating via Zoom. Shann will run the event the same as it would be run in a venue. You will have a number of one-to-one video dates, meet a lot of great guys, and later receive an email with contact information for your mutual matches! More info

Use our special Speed Dating registration discount: Save 25% with code GDG25 or [click here]

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NEXT WEEK: Voices with Impact 2020

Art With Impact presents Voices With Impact 2020 from Monday, June 22 through Friday, June 26
Voices With Impact is a year-long project that celebrates mental health stories told by filmmakers from around the world with unique perspectives and lived experience. The topics for this year’s five-minute short films are: Mental health issues specific to LGBTQIA+ people, and mental health issues related to the culture of masculinity. The world premiere of these films will take place on June 22, and will be followed by a week-long festival of dialogue and discussion in which our esteemed storytellers will lead interactive, enlightening sessions on topics ranging from colonialism and mental health to representations of men of color in the media. Workshops are free, registration required. More info

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NEXT WEEK: Virtual Events at The Center

Looking for connection in this time of self-isolation? The LGBT 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 the programs they are hosting:

Social Caring in the Face of Quarantine with Alexis Ortega – Monday at 11:00 a.m.

Managing Emotions During a Pandemic with Jill Hingston, Ph.D – Tuesday at 11:00 a.m.

Coping for Couples with Arlen Keith Leight, LCSW, Ph.D – Tuesday at 11:00 a.m.

LGBTQ+ Youth Virtual Hangout with Miguel Navarro – Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.

Seated Wellness with Lynn Simonson – Thursday at 10:00 a.m.

Women’s Chat with Kim Kieler – Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Who Cares: Caregiver Support Group with Perry Wiggins – Fridays at 3:00 p.m.

Men’s Chat with Stuart Huggins – Fridays at 10:30 a.m.

New groups starting soon from Behavioral Health @The Center:
Bereavement Therapy Group, starting July 6
Gay Men Living with HIV, starting July 8.

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NEXT WEEK: Luminary Cocktail with Alexandra Billings

CVRep presents the first Virtual Luminary Cocktail event, with Alexandra Billings, on Tuesday, June 23 at 6:00 p.m. Billings will discuss her illustrious Broadway career. Acting since 1968, she has performed across the United States in hundreds of plays and musicals. Every stage role she plays is considered to be a first for a transgender actress. Award-winning director Joanne Gordon will conduct the interview. Registration required. More info

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