There is so much to do for a gay man here in the Palm Springs area! This page should give our gay visitors (and, for sure, also us who live here) much inspiration to go out there and do things. We have a lot of suggestions for what can be sound and healthy, bad and dangerous, interesting and exciting, free and expensive, moving and romantic, fun and hilarious.

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Balloon Above the Desert (776-5785): Greet the sun or bid it farewell as you drift in beautiful desert skies in one of the most peaceful experiences of a lifetime. While floating effortlessly in a colorful hot air balloon, you will view breathtaking vistas of some of the most picturesque landscapes in California. Vineyards, polo fields, world famous golf courses, and exotic orchards are just a few of the unbelievable sights you will experience. Your flight direction is determined by the breeze. In Palm Desert Dream Flights (321-5154): Sip champagne and drink in the views as you drift leisurely skyward aboard a colorful hot air balloon piloted by an informative and entertaining seasoned professional with a flawless safety record. Your flight will be one of the most memorable adventures of your life. There are both sunrise and sunset flights, floating over lush green golf courses and symmetrical farmlands with breathtaking views of the rugged Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains. In Rancho Mirage Fantasy Balloon Flights (568-0997): Float gracefully above the desert beauty and exquisite country clubs with a bird's eye view of the majestic patchwork panorama of the Coachella Valley below. Depending on where the wind blows you, you might enjoy the sights of PGA West, the Indio polo fields, the Salton Sea, ancient Lake Cahuilla, Banning Pass, the San Andreas Fault, all surrounded by the Santa Rosa, San Jacinto, and Little San Bernardino Mountains. In Palm Desert

The Moorten Botanical Garden Showplace & Cactus Nursery (327-6555) displays more than 3000 species of desert plants from around the world. The garden also serves as a bird sanctuary. It has nothing of the grandeur of the New York Botanical Gardens or those in Rio de Janeiro, London, or San Francisco, but in its own right it gives you, within a few steps, more desert vegetation experience than a hundred daylong hikes. To really see the whole garden, count on spending up to two hours there -- but you can march through it in 20 minutes if you feel rushed. In Palm Springs Not a public botanical garden at all, but your webmasters' poolside is adorned, like many poolsides herebouts, with a hibiscus that blooms when much of the country is dusted with the white powder. We took this picture of our blooming hibiscus right after the Boston Blizzard, on February 27, 1999. So to our dear Boston friends: Eat your heart out! (Or come out west and enjoy!) In Palm Springs

Although you can do almost anything in Palm Springs, there's one thing you shouldn't try: train spotting. You'd get very frustrated if you went down to the railroad tracks to watch the trains pass by while trying to spot an engine you never saw before, jotting down its serial number in your tattered notebook and then showing off to your buddies -- had they seen that particular engine, eh? Train spotting might have been fun in the twenties and thirties, maybe even forties and fifties, with trains passing by all the time; these days there are a few freight trains passing by Palm Springs train station each day but only two passenger trains, and they show up at 1 and 5 AM to boot! Instead, we invite you to the sport of car spotting, and that you can do right downtown, say at Tahquitz and Palm Canyon while sipping a cup of Starbucks coffee. You'll see many unusual cars; vintage car ownership is blossoming in the desert, and many are taken out for a ride now and then. But those cars is really not what you should focus in on; no, try to spot this fab car, a white 1995 (vintage as well) Hyundai Accent with the license plate GYMBRAT. Be the first one on your block to spot it, and then you'll also have seen Gymbrat, the Webmaster of www.hotman.com, your favorite web site. Give up your coffee and come over and say hello! Maybe he'll join you for your coffee or give you a ride. Notice the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) logo on his car? He was a member of that gay organization, but then came the election of 2000. The HRC endorsed over 30 congressional candidates just in Califonia, but our candidate Ron Oden, running against Republican congresswoman Mary Bono (Sonny Bono's widow), did NOT get the HRC nod. They preferred to ignore that he was one of the very few openly gay major party congressional candidates, and when they did that after earlier having endorsed the moderately gay-hostile Alfonse d'Amato over the superbly gay-friendly Dick Schumer in New York, Gymbrat diligently peeled off his HRC label. (Today, Dick Schumer is a successful U S Senator and Ron Oden is our Mayor, the only black gay Mayor in the country.)

The gay community is constantly giving to different charity causes, and since many years the AIDS support has been first and foremost. The Desert Aids Project (323-2118) and the Aids Assistance Program (AAP) are the two largest organizations in this area. Many events, big and small, serve as fundraisers for the all-important help to people with AIDS. But there are fundraisers for other causes as well, and here are a few examples of fun bar events that all help out in their own way: The Wreath Auction at Streetbar, PS (320-1266) in early December sees many elaborate wreath creations bring in good money. The wreaths are donated during the preceding weeks and are displayed at Streetbar until the auction. The Christmas Stocking Stuffing at Tool Shed Bar (320-3299) on a December evening is a gathering of wrapped Christmas gifts from its patrons for distribution to needy families in time for the holidays. The Toys for Tots at Streetbar, PS (320-1266) functions also in December in the same manner to spread happiness to kids who otherwise would not get much for Christmas. The joy the recipients of these gifts get is only superseded by the joy felt by the givers when they let some of their surplus do some real good.

College of the Desert (COD) (346-8041) serves as a stepping-stone into many four-year colleges and universities in the United States. COD is a comprehensive community college where students earn two-year Associate of Arts (A.A.) and Associate of Science (A.S.) degrees which transfer to four-year colleges and universities. COD has specific transfer agreements with the nearby University of California, Riverside and California State University, San Bernardino. Students can also earn occupational certificates in particular fields of study. There are short-term programs where students can gain skills in particular subjects leading to employment. COD offers over 60 degree programs and over 35 occupational certificate programs. In Palm Desert The satellite campus of California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB), Palm Desert Campus (341-2883) offers upper-division and graduate programs for the convenience of students living in the Coachella Valley and Morongo Basin. Admissions and financial aid information, registration, and academic advising are also available locally. The Palm Desert campus' classrooms and office are located at 37500 Cook Street, Palm Desert, with additional classrooms at the Palm Desert campus annex located on the College of the Desert property, 43500 Monterey Avenue, Palm desert. Call 341-2883 for information about the campus and its programs and courses. In Palm Desert Every year, adults like you make the decision to return to college to earn your education credential, undergraduate degree or graduate degree. The Coachella Valley campus of Chapman University (CUCVC) (341-8051) has been meeting the needs of adult students for over 40 years, offering high quality programs taught by academically rich and professionally accomplished faculty at convenient times and locations that allow you to pursue your career and education goals while juggling your busy schedule. A new term starts every 10 weeks! Plus, experience the Chapman difference -- individualized attention. Talk to our staff one-on-one and get the answers you need. No long lines. No treating you like a number. We are here to help you every step of the way from discussing and understanding your goals to class registration to academic advising and career counseling. For information, call 341-8051. In Palm Desert

First of all, you should know about Boots in Squares (328-6303 or EMAIL HERE or 327-8684 or EMAIL HERE), Palm Springs gay square dance club, which both hosts dances and teaches square dancing. The club is 50 members strong and is a member of the International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs. It welcomes dancers from all over the world to its monthly club dances as well as to its regular Monday night classes. Three dance skill levels: Mainstream, Plus, and A-1. Starting on the first Monday of January each year, the club arranges weekly classes in all three skill levels: Plus level from 6:30 to 7:30 PM, Mainstream level from 7:30 to 9 PM, and A-1 level from 9 to 10 PM. Both the monthly dances and the weekly classes take place in the Cathedral City Senior Center. In addition, Boots in Squares performs publicly a few times a year, such as at Palm Springs Pride. Apart from the square dancing that is offered by Boots in Squares, there is dancing every night at Hunters Video Bar (323-0700) and Toucans Tiki Lounge (416-7584) and on selected nights at other gay bars, such as Ground Zero Bar (321-0031), Heaven (416-0950), and Sidewinders Bar (328-9919). Square dancing and traditional disco and country/western (and maybe even a menuet if you request it). The purpose of many of the big parties held here is just to let you dance the night away: what is the White Party if not dancing? OK -- so it's mainly dancing, let's put it that way. So, kick up your heels and enjoy!

Offroad Rentals offers fun, self-guided tours on their quad vehicles in the sand of a large private desert area. They provide a variety of vehicles suited to the age and size of the individual, safety equipment, short instructional video, and hands-on instruction. The quads are relatively safe and simple to operate, and you will enjoy overviews of the ponds, wind mills, sand dunes and the Whitewater River for a great time. 4 miles west of Palm Springs on Highway 111

This is earthquake country, and as long as little or no property damage is inflicted and nobody gets hurt, then these sporadic shakes are by many regarded as quite interesting. Back in 1992 we had two huge ones, albeit at some distance, only three hours apart, and after those we shook every few minutes for months. Lately there has been a dearth of earthquakes, but once in a while we do get a humble, pathetic rattle. The place to go when this occurs is (where else?) Internet, where you can see a live seismograph showing the ongoing quake, and afterwards verify what happened on a map and with detailed data. The map shown below is the real thing (created by USGS/Caltech/UCSD/USGS/UCB/UNR), showing you the current earthquake situation right now, but you must go to Caltech's own website to be able to get detailed information about a specific quake. If you are lucky, your earthquake thrills may exceed your hump thrills that day.

There is a world outside Palm Springs, so whether you live here or are a tourist here, you may want to go gallivanting to other Meccas. (Speaking of which, we literally do have a Mecca right here in our midst, between Indio and Salton Sea, but that is listed under 'Deportations' rather than under 'Excursions'.) You can get out of here either in an organized group or, of course, on your own. For those of you who want to travel in a happy gay group and leave the details to others, there is the Rainbow Travel Club, which is an arm of the Desert Pride Center, PS (327-2313). The club started in May of 2004 to provide rock-bottom priced group travel opportunities for its members. At this writing in July 2004 the have had a 4-day trip to Grand Canyon and Sedona, and they have plans for Las Vegas, San Francisco, Napa Valley wine country, South America, France, Italy, Greece, and even a cruise. There are many organized gay bus trips that you can simply sign up for when you feel in the mood. The destinations are interesting and the bus ride is fun and an opportunity to meet new friends. This is just a sample of trips that take off with some regularity: Bullhead City, Arizona: Now and then, a bus leaves Tool Shed Bar (320-3299) and gets you in nice company to Bullhead City in Arizona, where you can enjoy gay bars, discos, and, across the river in Nevada, casinos. The bus returns to the Tool Shed a day or two later. Getty Museum in Los Angeles: Each year, the Prime Timers of the Desert (318-9798) arranges a daytrip by bus for art lovers and their admirers. You get a few hours for the art, which is never enough, but then, there will be another trip next year. San Diego Gay Pride: Toucans Tiki Lounge (416-7584) takes you there in late July on a very happy bus, and you will be back the same day. This is very convenient, unless you would like to extend the ambience of gay San Diego to a night of bars and hotel rooms, in which case you are out of luck. Beach Party in Santa Monica: A day on the wonderful beach, followed by a great dinner at a nearby restaurant, is arranged by Streetbar (320-1266) every year in August. The bus brings you back late, tanned, and filled. Rawhide: Bus trip for the adventurous leather crowd, arranged by Sidewinders Bar, CC (328-9919) in late August. The places we want to mention for you to go on your own need much more space. Of course, you will be your own road guide, so we must tell you in so many words how to get there. (As in all other existing travel guides we tell you exactly how to get there but not a word about how to get back...) Las Vegas (4 - 5 hours by car each way): Most people go to Las Vegas on the freeways (I-10 west to I-215 north to I-15 north to Las Vegas). We recommend a much nicer, 2-lane, fully paved, and a bit shorter road: From Palm Springs, go north on Indian Canyon Drive for some 13 miles until its end, where it hits highway 62. Turn right (north) on 62 and continue for some 35 miles until Adobe Road (traffic light) in Twentynine Palms. Fill gas for the desert crossing and then turn left (north) on Adobe and continue for some 2 miles until Amboy Road (traffic light). Turn right (east) on Amboy and continue for some 47 miles until its end, where it hits "National Trails Highway". Before that you'll have enjoyed going through white salt flats and seeing a black volcano cone to the left (you can actually go and climb it). Turn right (east) on "National Trails Highway" and continue for some 6 miles until Kelbaker Road (watch out for it). Turn left (north) on Kelbaker Road and continue for some 33 miles until Kelso (rail crossing). Before that you'll have enjoyed the enormous Kelso Sand Dunes on your left (you can drive up to them if you want). Turn right (east) on Kelso Cima Road and continue for some 19 miles along the rail tracks until Cima. In Cima, cross two train tracks and go straight ahead (Do NOT follow the I-15 sign to turn left onto Cima Road, NOT!), and continue on Morningstar Mine Road for some 15 miles until the end, where it hits Ivanpah Road. Turn left (north) on Ivanpah Road and continue for some 3 miles until the end, where it hits Nipton Road. Turn left (west) on Nipton Road and continue for some 4 miles until I-15. Turn right (north) on I-15 and fly into Las Vegas some 45 miles later. For Las Vegas you have a web site just like this one, and it will give you the gay bars, businesses, clubs & organizations, just what you need in that wild, exciting town. San Diego (2 - 3 hours by car each way): Most people go to San Diego on the freeways (I-10 west to State 60 west to I-215 south to I-15 south to San Diego). But to really enjoy the ride, you should instead go over the Santa Rosa Mountains on a beautiful, winding, fully paved road. From northern Palm Springs the mileage is the same (but OF COURSE it takes longer time than the freeway), and if you start from, say, Palm Desert or Indio, you will drive some 20 miles less each way. You start off from Palm Desert, going south on State 74 (the Palms to Pines Highway), which winds itself up the steep mountain side with better and better views of the valley behind. After 45 minutes you turn left (south) on State 371 -- clearly marked, but you have to look out for it. 30 minutes later, at the end of that road you turn right (west) on State 79. Another 30 minutes later you'll hit I-15, onto which you turn left (south) and fly into San Diego an hour later. A web site just like this one gives you everything you need to know about Gay San Diego for a happy visit. Idyllwild (an hour by car each way): Get away from the desert and breathe New Hampshire air for a fleeting moment. It is as easy as a one hour drive from Palm Springs. Go west, young man, on Highway 111 and onto Interstate 10 until you hit Banning, about 20 miles from your start. Get off at road 243, leading to Idyllwild. Follow it with care at first -- a right turn at an intersection is a bit obscure, and missing it lands you in prison at the end of the street. Soon the road starts climbing, offering great views, and slowly nature changes from real wild creosote bushes to real wild pine trees. It's about 25 miles from Banning to Idyllwild; don't stop when you think you are there -- it's another few miles until you are really there. It is an alpine village, with log cabin architecture and great peace, and its 5000 foot altitude makes it quite a change from Palm Springs. Do a little walk-around, maybe a meal at Cafe Idyllwild or whatnot, and when you are satisfied go back by completing the circle. Continue on the same road 243, which soon merges into highway 74 -- turn left at the intersection. The curvy road yields to a pampas-like terrain, and soon you forget that you are still quite high up. Well within an hour the road suddenly starts dropping, and you must stop at the first lookout, from where you have a fantastic view over the center part of the Coachella Valley with Palm Desert right below your feet. The road is now classic hairpins, nature changes back to desert, and then you are down in Palm Desert. The pictures you see here were taken by a longtime Idyllwild guy, who has a wonderful log cabin for you to stay in. (His website, www.jeffpalmer.com, has all the details.) But any way you spend your time up there you will have a wonderful visit.

Twice a year, in conjunction with the White Party (at Easter) and with the Gay Pride Celebration (on first weekend in November), we have the Arenas Road Street Festival. It is a gay party, with entertainment at least every hour, and music, and a dance floor, and tons of booths selling all the stuff that traditionally belongs in a gay flea market. Saturday and Sunday all day long. In Palm Springs The Palm Springs Village Fest takes place on Thursday nights. From around 5 o'clock in the evening, southbound traffic through the heart of Palm Springs becomes quite disturbed, if not to say unhappy, because Palm Canyon Drive is sealed off from cars for a stretch of half a mile. In place of the cars, canvas booths and display tables are erected, lighting is wired, and wares are put on display. For some four hours hundreds or thousands of people mingle in the street, listening to live music, browsing for food, arts, crafts, antiques, and they also look for familiar -- and new -- faces in the crowd. Mixed in with all the vacationing families, for whom this is a "must do", is a considerable gay contingent -- you're bound to meet some of your friends there. Then, at 10 or so, it all starts to pack up, and the traffic will be allowed back. In Palm Springs The College of the Desert's Street Fair is a great place to find holiday presents, birthday and anniversary gifts, and one-of-a-kind favors. It is located on the beautiful College of the Desert campus, surrounded by date palms and mountain vistas. Over 300 vendors offer you farmers market, food court, arts & crafts, clothing and accessories, new and used items, unique gifts, gourmet goodies, home decoration items, and gifts for any occasion. Saturday and Sunday mornings. In Palm Desert The latest weekly flea market to open up is the Cathedral City Marketfair which is held on Saturdays from 9 AM to 4 PM on the Civic Center Town Square. In Cathedral City We want to mention two monthly flea markets, but we have to tell you that they are somewhat iffy. The First Friday is named by its timing, namely the first Friday night of each month from 4 to 9 PM, and it is held on North Palm Canyon Drive from Amado to Tachevah. No traffic is affected, because the stands are placed on the sidewalks and much of the business takes place in the store nextby. Your webmaster lives in the north part of town and has never seen a manifestation of this market since it started in 2002. The flags for it continue to fly from the lightpoles, so something must be going on. In Palm Springs And a Gay Swap Meet is held in and around Ground Zero Bar, CC (321-0031) on the third Saturday of the month from noon to 5 PM. That is where you should find it, but it has been arranged in earlier years at both the Villa and at the Desert Palms Resort, which may be good to know. In Cathedral City

Just as in the major cities around the country we now have a Gay Community Center here in Palm Springs. On December 8, 2002, the Desert Pride Center (327-2313) celebrated its Grand Opening at its first location, which soon proved to be far too small. A year later the Center moved to its current location, upstairs at 611 South Palm Canyon Drive, right in the Sun Center. It is open six days a week: Monday to Friday from 1 to 9 PM, and on Saturdays from 8 AM to 5 PM. It is a non-profit organization (with IRS tax exempt status) with social, cultural, and educational activities in all directions: Social, cultural, and educational programs Classes Workshops Club activities Financial and estate planning Adoption education Information and referrals Community referrals Tourist information Community bulletin board Library and archives Community wellness programs Medical and mental health referrals Prevention and education Sexually transmitted disease education 12-step meetings ... and more You don't have be a member of the Desert Pride Center to take part in its activities (but you may want to be a member anyway). Many gay clubs and organizations have meetings at the Center, such as: A.I.D.S. Theatre Company American Veterans for Equal Rights Club 300 Crystal Meth Anonymous Desert Dyners Desert Winds Freedom Band Gay Men's Discussion Group Gay Spiritual Circle Greater P S Pride Great Outdoors Jews in the Desert Living with HIV in Recovery (an AA group) Minglez Off Center Theatre Group P S Front Runners and Walkers P S Boyz of Leather P S Leather Order of the Desert (PSLOD) P S Pozabilities Stonewall Democrats Transgendered Outreach Support Group There are also language classes, such as 'Beginning Spanish' and 'Basic American Sign Language', and lectures on philosophy, aging, religion, and blood pressure screening. And on and on. Go to the Desert Pride Center's website!

You get a measure of the gay presence in our little towns (remember that there are well below 200,000 people here) by looking at the flora of gay rags: We have 5 (FIVE!) magazines, and they are all eminently viable. One could think that five would be a bit repetitious ("How much gay stuff is there to report?"), but each has its niche, its style, its readers. All are free for the picking, mostly inside gay establishments, but some are starting to be found in no-money vending machines in the streets. Obviously, there is no total nudity portrayed. (Shall we say "yet"?) Advertising pays the costs of the magazines, and there is usually much more ads than text content. Don't let that scare you - there is plenty to read in most of the rags, and the ads are not boring. 2004 The first magazine we'll discuss is Mega-Scene (327-5178), with the look and feel of a newspaper. It has excellent writing and good reporting, and does not shy away from controversy. Most events in which gay men like you might be interested get at least a perfunctory notice. Mega-Scene has been around since the beginning of time, under the stewardship of Bob Hoven, who occasionally 2000 makes an appearance as the Royal Duchess Ingeborg of Lapland of the Cosmic Court. The paper falls apart in two sections: the first contains local and world gay news stories, and the second is devoted to arts and entertainment. In the first section, Bob Hoven writes the lead editorial and also a secondary "Final Comment". We also find letters to the editor, notices of events, past and future, interspersed with jokes for comic relief, also a gossip section written by Bob Hoven, and several regular columnists cover mind & body, spirit, tax, law, gardening, and home design. In the second section you'll find everything related to entertainment, but also spillovers of the general event notices in the first section, plus astrology and classified ads (mostly "Social Groups"), and finally a few pages covering the scene in Las Vegas. 2004 The Bottom Line (323-0552) is the Palm Springs coffee table magazine, suitable for the most pretentious gay or gay-friendly environments. Like Mega-Scene, it has been around for many years, since 1980 if we are correct. It changed hands some years 2000 ago, and its mission, according to its former owner, was to be "devoted to the positive image of the gay community". That meant a feel-good magazine, something that gets quite a bit monotonous in the long run. Right at the start of the new regime, the Bottom Line became much different, with opinions that at times were quite frank and, shall we say, controversial. Today, as the elegant magazine is has become, it has lost most of those sharp claws in deference to its full-color, full-page advertisers, but it does have a plethora of interesting articles. This is a magazine that you can easily spend some time enjoying. Let's flip through a random issue: we find an editorial, letters to the editor, gossip columns, party reviews, events of gay interest, local and world news, celebrity profiles, social issues, film events, eat & drink, book reviews, art, fitness, psychology, dear Abby, health, sex, a day-by-day calendar, horoscope. And, of course, ads of all kinds (cars and beds and houses) which pay the bills. There are no classified ads at all. 2004 The Bottom Line is immaculately "clean" since the day in the late 90's, when it spun off its leather and bar scenes and its classified ads, all that dirty fun, into a new sister publication named Pulp (323-0552). At the time of its inception, it began as a poor little black-and-white 2000 information booklet, hastily put together, containing classified ads and a description of our gay bars and not much more. However, just like its older sister, it has grown over time and it now quite a magazine in its own right. It is distictly less elegant than the Bottom Line, but its place is, after all, not on a coffee table. Don't worry, though: Pulp is no porn or even very sexy, and much of the content would be perfectly appropriate for the Bottom Line. Most of the writing consists of practical advice articles, where to find what on Internet, psychology oriented stuff, gossip, recent celebrity quotes, dear Abby, book and CD reviews, all this naturally from a gay vantage point. There are also news briefs, party pictures, and a huge selection of classified ads (like a small Frontiers magazine). Finally, a daily calendar, lists of special events, museums and other attractions, and social organizations, a crossword puzzle, horoscopes, and comic strips. A few pages are devoted to the Inland Empire. Pulp has some but not overwhelmingly much general advertising. And the gay bars are nowhere to be found! 2004 While all the other gay magazines appear every other week, the Desert Daily Guide (320-3237) hits the street every week like clockwork, and it is the most practical of all the gay magazines. Its claim to fame ever since its inception in 1994 is its daily calendar, detailing every minute happening in the gay community, with a 2000 natural emphasis on the bars. In the beginning it was printed on thick, cardboard-like paper, so could never stay folded. Those clumsy days are over, but a drink spilling over its sturdy paper would still be taken in stride. The Desert Daily Guide is mainly an advertising medium, and it does pack'em in. Mostly local ads for your daily needs (haircuts, hardware, eats), and its classified section has everything from houses for a lifetime to escorts for an hour. As for reading material (except the day-by-day, hour-by-hour listing of events), it is sparse. An editorial by the owner, Mike Luke, a dear Abby, a leather column, a cooking recipe, a set of party pictures, a cartoon, a few lists (bars in Palm Springs, Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, Palm Springs resorts, restaurants, organizations and community services), and that's it. This is a practical tool, not literature. 2004 The fifth gay magazine here in Palm Springs is actually shared with San Diego, and that is Buzz (324-8299). One would think that San Diego would overwhelm Palm Springs in content; not so. Yes, a few pages more, but not a whole lot, so it is fully justified to include Buzz in our list of local gay magazines. It is almost exclusively given to the fun in life. One section is devoted to each location, and then there are health & fitness, entertainment, columns, and trash. The Palm Springs section has a club calendar (list of scheduled events in the bars), buzz pix (smiling faces in the bars), buzzin' (gossip not only about the bars), and sundry reviews and interviews (restaurants, people, etc.), and a small number of classified ads. The entertainment section covers music, stage, film, books, and fashion. The columns section has one item for seniors, a dear Abby, horoscopes, and, (wow!) celebrity birthdays. The trash section? We leave you guessing. Here is table with summary information about our five local gay magazines. For this, we used only one single issue of each (the ones you see depicted above, dated around Labor Day 2004), and naturally the page numbers will vary from issue to issue. Magazine Frequency Size Pages Ad pages Text pages Bottom Line Biweekly 8-1/2 x 11" 144 83 61 Buzz Biweekly 8-1/2 x 11" 92 48 44 Desert Daily Guide Weekly 7 x 8-1/2" 100 75 25 Mega-Scene Biweekly 11 x 14" 68 37 31 Pulp Biweekly 8-1/2 x 11" 72 33 39 Let's also mention another freebie, the Desert Post Weekly. It is not a gay magazine, but it is very gay-friendly and fun to read. It looks like nothing, but it is a little Village Voice in the desert.

It is hard to believe, but in the beginning of the 90's this rapidly growing gay community did not have its own Gay Pride. It started in the mid-90's with a parade in May, not on Palm Canyon Drive, oh no, but on Mesquite Avenue, from somewhere near Gene Autry Trail all the way to Demuth Park, a distance of almost a mile, and there were literally hundreds of onlookers. The end of the parade was the festival grounds in the park, and in spite of it charging no entrance fee it was surrounded by thick tarp to prevent any minors from looking inside. It was fun, and it was hot, and the shirts were off, and we were free, just as free as our brothers in West Hollywood and San Diego and New York, finally. It did not take many years before we were on Palm Canyon, however, and now we were there in the much more temperate November. The festival was conveniently located on "our" Arenas Road block. When we soon grew out of that site the festival moved diagonally across Calle Encilia to the empty grass field there of late White Party Tea Dance fame. Now that was a huge space, that lasted exactly two years until it was too small, and again we had to move, now to the Angels Stadium in Sunrise Park. "Too big and too far away" was the howl, and this website helped in the howling. We soon bit our tongue, because the current space is not too big at all and the mile distance from the parade has not hampered any attendance. Where do we move when the stadium is not enough? The Greater Palm Springs Pride is scheduled on the first weekend in November, which means that if there is an election it is usually a couple of days away. The parade is packed with candidate "floats" (convertible cars) and many booths feature the candidates themselves. It is now a big weekend, noticed by the Desert Sun newspaper on its first page (which was not always the case), only outspaced by the concurrent, all important Golf Cart Parade in Palm Desert, that is the big headline grabber. On Sunday, the festival always packs the stadium to capacity, often with long lines to get in, while Saturday is the much better day to be there, because you can move around freely. The Sunday parade used to march from south to north, making it impossible to photograph well into the sun. Somebody finally noticed, and it was no big hassle to turn it around, and now the parade is a great spectacle also on film - only that the weather should be warmer than in 2003, with its long-sleeved flannel shirts. Isn't it nice always to have something to complain about? The estimated number of onlookers always seems exaggerated (how about 30,000!), but there are indeed several thousand of both us and them coming out for the parade. Except Mayor Kleindienst in 2003, and he lost the election two days later. The gay parade is an important event! We give you our own photographic reports of the Pride festivities of selected years on this website, only we wish we had started doing that back in the Demuth Park era. Well, we wish we had had Internet then, too. For those of us who have stamina enough to take two contiguous weekends of incessant celebration, we have the Palm Springs Leather Pride on the weekend immediately following the Greater Palm Springs Pride. Of course real men have such stamina and strength, and if there ever are any real men it's the leathermen. So Palm Springs Leather Order of the Desert (PSLOD) (272-5553) arranges all sorts of taxing events, centered around Barracks Bar (321-9688). Of course, other bars and venues also play along with the leathermen, and much of the activities are done in the form of home assignments. Contact PSLOD for details.

Palm Springs is acknowledged as one of the premier golf resort capitals in the world. Here are 73 of the golf courses in the vicinity of Palm Springs - all you have to do is choose: In Bermuda Dunes: Bermuda Dunes Country Club In Cathedral City: Cathedral Canyon Country Club, Date Palm Country Club, Desert Princess Country Club, Outdoor Resorts / RV Resort and Country Club In Desert Hot Springs: Desert Crest Country Club, Desert Dunes Country Club, Hidden Springs Country Club, Mission Lakes Country Club, Sands RV Country Club In Indian Wells: Desert Horizons Country Club, Eldorado Country Club, Golf Resort at Indian Wells, Indian Wells Country Club, The Vintage Golf Center In Indio: Heritage Palms Golf Course, Indio Municipal Golf Club, The Plantation, President's Club at Indian Palms, Rancho Casa Blanca Country Club In La Quinta: The Club at PGA West, Indian Springs Golf Course, La Quinta Country Club, La Quinta Resort & Club, Palm Royale Country Club, PGA West Resort, The Quarry at La Quinta, Rancho La Quinta Country Club, The Tradition In Palm Desert: Avondale Golf Club, Bighorn Golf Club, Chaparral Country Club, Del Webb's Sun City Palm Desert Golf Club, Desert Falls Country Club, Desert Willow Golf Course, Emerald Desert Country Club, The Golf Center at Palm Desert, Indian Ridge Country Club, Ironwood Country Club, The Lakes Country Club, Marrkesh Country Club, Marriott's Desert Springs Resort, Monterey Country Club, Oasis Country Club, Palm Desert Country Club, Palm Desert Greens Golf & Tennis Club, Palm Desert Resort Country Club, Palm Valley Country Club, Portola Country Club, Santa Rosa Country Club, Shadow Mountain Country Club, Suncrest Country Club, Woodhaven Country Club In Palm Springs: Canyon Country Club, Canyon South Course, Mesquite Golf & Country Club, O'Donnell Golf Club, Palm Springs Country Club, Seven Lakes Country Club, Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort, Tommy Jacobs Bel Air Greens In Rancho Mirage: The Club at Morningside, Desert Island Golf & Country Club, Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Las Palmas Country Club, Rancho Mirage Country Club, The Springs Club, Sunrise Country Club, Tamarisk Country Club, Thunderbird Country Club, Westin Mission Hills Resort In Thousand Palms: Ivey Ranch Country Club, Tri-Palms Estate Country Club To choose where to play is indeed difficult, and to choose right is impossible! How about joining our gay Stonewall Golfers (318-1328 or EMAIL HERE) and then go with the flow? This golf club includes all levels of players, from beginners to Tigers. They play at least twice a month at local golf courses and also schedule golf dates at golf courses elsewhere in southern California. A autumn fundraising tournament, called "Pride on the Links", raises money for worthy causes, such as Gay Associated Youth (GAY) (776-1744) and the Desert Pride Center (327-2313). There are two annual gay or gay-friendly golf tournaments of note: The Rainbow Challenge Golf Tournament on Memorial Day Weekend in late May, and the Charity Golf Tournament on Gay Pride Weekend in early November. Of course, the Stonewall Golfers have all the details.

There is an abundance of both desert hiking and mountain hiking around Palm Springs. You owe it to yourself to join the Great Outdoors of Palm Springs (Roger at 416-2673), which is the Palm Springs chapter of the largest gay outdoor recreational organization in the West. Its outings include hiking, overnight camping, houseboating, trails training and mountain climbing - and also pool parties. It also does some things indoors, like monthly bowling and monthly board games. If you prefer to hike on your own, please click here for a our special Hiking Trails page right on this site.