Lesbians of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley Outings and Events
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Lateral Kindness
Lateral kindness is the quiet, powerful practice of lifting one another up across the spaces we share—between neighbors, colleagues, friends, and strangers. It’s kindness that moves sideways rather than down or up, honoring our shared humanity rather than hierarchy. It lives in small gestures: offering support without being asked, choosing empathy over judgment, celebrating another’s success as if it were your own. Lateral kindness reminds us that we’re all walking each other home, and that the world grows gentler, brighter, and more possible when we choose to meet one another with generosity, respect, and an open hand.
Last Thursday, Dorien went in for her eye appointment to begin the process for cataract surgery. I dropped her off at 11 and headed out to run a few errands, expecting to hear from her before noon. Just before twelve she texted to say the wait was long and that I should go home. One o’clock passed with no update, and I found myself grumbling about overbooked offices.
When I finally picked her up at two, she told me what had unfolded. In the waiting room, an elderly gentleman—clearly in the early stages of dementia—was growing increasingly agitated, making distressed sounds that unsettled everyone around him. The doctor and staff tried gently to soothe him, but nothing helped.
When the doctor called Dorien for her appointment, she looked at the man and simply said, “This gentleman is very distressed—why don’t you take him in first?” The doctor thanked her, and a wave of calm settled over the entire room. That small act of grace changed everything.
Her cataract surgery was originally booked for March. But just before Thanksgiving, the doctor’s office called: they’d had a cancellation, and Dorien could have the surgery on December 2—three months earlier. Because of her kindness, the doctor had instructed the staff to move her to the top of the cancellation list.
One quiet gesture rippled outward—to the distressed gentleman, to the doctor and staff, to every uneasy person in the waiting room, and eventually, unexpectedly, back to Dorien and to me.
Sometimes it is easier to love the world in the abstract than the neighbor right beside us. But moments like this remind me how far a single act of compassion can reach.
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My book Travels Into Discomfort is available on Amazon.
It is a travel adventure in its prose and a journey to the heart in its poetry.
Travels Into Discomfort
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Barbara Carpenter Realtor
Shann Carr
Comedian, Event Producer, Realtor, A Lesbian Concierge In The Desert
Andrea Voras, Gerontologist Dementia Specialist Life Aging Life Care Manager
Constance Clare-Newman, Somatic Work for Pain Relief and Stress Reduction
Corlyce Photography
Chris Ann Kallgren Realtor
Sunny Designs-Website & Graphic Design & Video
Rice Notary
Nancy Minger - Massage Therapist
Poochsitter
Motivation Changes — Life Coaching - Dr Ann Sarah Engel, MSW, PhD
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For more information about pickleball, including lessons, leagues, and other lesbians playing pickleball - contact Mary Barsaleau.
Mary is a registered Pickleball Ambassador.
| | Seeking Classical Musicians | | |
New Book -Smartass: Memoir of a Mouthy Girl
New Book - Show Her The Money
New Book - The Worst Kind of Girl, a novel by Susan Rukeyser
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- Cork Women's Fun Weekend
- AdventureWomen: organizes exceptional women’s only travel groups spots around the globe.
- Trafalgar: offers women-only guided vacations to various destinations, with local female guides and experts.
- Road Scholar: provides educational and cultural trips for women of all ages and interests.
- Adventures in Good Company: creates active and adventurous trips for women who love the outdoors.
- Intrepid Travel’s Women’s Expeditions: explores local cultures and traditions from a female perspective, with female leaders and hosts.
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Before she ever held a stethoscope, before history turned her into a symbol, Susan La Flesche Picotte was a small girl sitting beside a dying woman on the Omaha Reservation. The woman was suffering. Everyone knew she needed a doctor. But the nearest white physician refused to come. “It’s only an Indian,” he said. Susan heard that sentence long before she had language for cruelty. It marked her. It planted a question in her chest that never stopped burning: Why does one life matter more than another?
She was born in 1865, raised in the tension between two worlds. Her father, Chief Joseph La Flesche, pushed his children toward education with the conviction that their future belonged to them, not to the whims of Washington. Her mother grounded her in Omaha ways — responsibility, kinship, community woven like thread through every action. Susan carried both teachings as if they were two halves of the same heartbeat.
When she was 14, she left for school in the East. She excelled, but the memory of that dying woman followed her into every classroom. So when she learned that the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania admitted women — including Native women — she didn’t hesitate. She applied, studied with ferocious purpose, and graduated first in her class. In 1889, she became the first Native American woman in the United States to earn a medical degree.
She could’ve stayed in the East, where the work paid better and the road was smoother. Instead, she went home. Back to the reservation. Back to the people who had never been able to rely on the doctors who lived just beyond their borders.
Her work was constant, exhausting, and holy. More than 1,300 patients lived across 400 square miles, and she reached them however she could — walking, riding horseback, traveling in snowstorms or summer heat, her medical bag thumping against her hip. She delivered babies, set bones, treated epidemics, listened to grief, and helped families navigate federal policies that often did more harm than healing.
She didn’t just tend to illness; she fought its roots. She campaigned against alcohol brought onto the reservation. She pressed federal officials for sanitation, clean water, and housing that wouldn’t poison the people inside it. And when she saw her community needed a real medical facility, she didn’t wait for government funding. She stood in front of church groups and organizations across the country, telling the truth of her people’s needs and gathering donations one dollar at a time.
In 1913, her vision became a building: the first hospital ever constructed on a reservation without government money. It rose in Walthill, Nebraska — two stories of white walls and bright windows, a place where people were treated with dignity, where their lives were not considered “only” anything.
Her hospital was more than a building. It was a promise answered. A child’s vow made real. And it still carries her name.
| | Email me at gabriolakim@gmail.com if you want something posted on the bulletin board, or an event promoted. | |
Special Thanks to Frontrunners for their ongoing support of LPSCV
Palm Springs Front Runners & Walkers is a running and walking club for members and friends of the LGBTQ+ community in the Coachella Valley. We are a local chapter of International Front Runners, an informal network of LGBTQ+ running groups around the world. Membership is open to everyone without regard to ability, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. Join for daily runs and walks! Palm Springs Front Runners & Walkers - Home
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Art in the Park in the Dark makes one FINAL appearance before taking a break for a bit.
This FUN FREE event fills the skies and trees with lasers and Demuth Park with black lights and neon on Nov. 29th from 5-9pm in Demuth park.
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Festival of Lights Dec 6th The parade kicks off at 5:45 pm along the world-famous Palm Canyon Drive, starting at Ramon Road, featuring twinkling lights, magnificent marching bands, giant Macy’s-style holiday balloons, and a visit from Santa Claus, of course! The parade is broadcast live on NBC Palm Springs beginning at 6 pm.
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David Brighton’s Space Oddity Concert at the Riveria Hotel in Palm Springs on Saturday, December 6th. Some of the proceeds will go to to local charities . . Tickets can be bought at Eventbrite.com David Bowie Tribute : Featuring David Brighton's Space Oddity Concert Tickets, Sat, Dec 6, 2025 at 7:30 PM | Eventbrite or through https://www.davidbowietribute.com/about
Space Oddity – The Quintessential David Bowie Tribute Experience is a live, multi-media spectacle that takes you on a musical journey through the constantly metamorphosing career of Rock and Roll’s most celebrated innovator. David Brighton and his amazing band deliver a stunning note-for note theatrical concert event… transporting today's audiences back in time through some of the most exciting moments in the history of Rock music.
Experience Bowie's miraculous transformation from space-aged rock idol, to polished mainstream media star... and the timeless classics that forever changed the face of pop culture, with David Brighton's salute to the most electrifying performer of our time.
"David Brighton has the voice, moves and look to actually step in for David Bowie if he were unavailable and few would ever know. Experiencing Space Oddity made for a truly remarkable evening…" says Harry Maslin, the Producer of David Bowie's YOUNG AMERICANS and STATION TO STATION Albums.
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Birds Beyond the Binary
Speaker Lindsay Rowe, Senior Education Coordinator for Audubon California’s Salton Sea & Desert Program, will lead this discussion about how many species on Earth are capable of exhibiting characteristics humans have described as “Queer.” In this presentation, we will dive into the beauty of Queer birds, including polygamous Acorn Woodpeckers, a California island of Lesbian gulls, the story of the Male Hooded Warbler living a Female life, the White-throated Sparrows with four distinct sexes, and more. This presentation is co-sponsored by Oswit Land Trust, Audubon California, and the Palm Springs Public Library and will be held at the Mizell Center.
Thursday, December 11, 2025
3:00 PM to 4:30 PM
Mizell Center, 480 S Sunrise Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262
Information & RSVP: David Paisley at DavidP@OswitLandTrust.org
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The Walk of the Inns Dec 11th at 4pm - Free
Free, self-guided walking tour to explore the local hotel holiday scene. Pick up a map and flashlight at Palm Springs Art Museum.
Explore the unique charm and hospitality of Palm Springs at the annual Walk of the Inns. This free, self-guided walking tour welcomes locals and out-of-towners to experience the vibrant local hotel holiday scene. This annual tradition offers a delightful way to discover the eclectic hotel properties nestled between Ramon Road and Tahquitz Canyon Way. Guests can look forward to lively music and refreshments at various stops along the route.
From mid-century modern marvels to stunning Mediterranean retreats, participating hotels will showcase their unique styles and warm hospitality, providing an insider’s look at the distinctive architecture for which Palm Springs is renowned.
A bunch of us did this last year and had a blast. Start early so you dont miss the treats along the way. Fascinating look at some our boutique hotels.
Walk of the Inns | Palm Springs Art Museum
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BAM is back (Zoom Book and Movie) discussion group
BAM 2.0 starts on Monday, October 13th at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time. We are a book and movie club that has been meeting online since 2020. We have a new format coming back from our summer break this year. All participants have the opportunity to select a book or movie for the group and to lead the discussion the month the group reads or views their selection.
BAM's selection for the Dec. 8th meeting is "Ride", the documentary about Sally Ride.
For questions about BAM and to request a link for the October meeting, please get in touch with Flynn Sylvest at flynnsylvest@gmail.com. Thank you!
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Life is unpredictable and can change in a flash! People suddenly get sick when they seem really healthy — and when does anyone ever plan for suffering a heart attack, stroke or developing Alzheimer’s? Yet with an increasing number of people living well into their 80s, 90s and even 100s, the need to effectively plan ahead — has never been more pressing! So if you keep putting off getting your affairs in order because you don't want to think about it, don’t know where to begin, or don't know what to say, then this PALS is for you!
PALS 7 Essential Conversations 2025.08 a.pdf - Google Drive
PALS no-cost seminars offer up-to-date information, resources and opportunities for learning and engaging in each one of the essential "planning ahead" conversations all of us need to have and the actions we must take now before a health crisis or other life-altering situation arises.
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Gennine Francis will be performing at The Roost on Saturday from 6–9 pm. Reservations can be made online at: ticketbud.com.
Leanna Rogers and Miguel will be performing at the V Lounge on Monday from 5–8 pm. $5 cover charge. Leanna and The Free Agents are performing on Fridays from 6–8 pm at Hyatt, Palm Springs.
Patrice Morris will be performing on Thursdays, October 16–December 11 at 6 pm at The Roost. Reservations can be made online at: ticketbud.com.
Marisa Corvo performs at The Roost on Wednesday, November 19; December 10 from 6:30–9 p.m. Tickets at ticketbud.com.
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Lesbians Embracing Aging (LEA)
Lesbians Embracing Aging (LEA)
If you are an older lesbian and would like to connect with others, please consider joining
LEA. You can start by signing up for our monthly newsletter and then, if you’d like to
connect more often, join our private Facebook group which is about connection and
conversation, support and community – a place to lend a helping hand and uplift each
other when needed.
To sign up for the newsletter let us know here: leaofcoachellavalley@gmail.com
To sign up for the Facebook group (please note: all applicants must answer brief
questions and agree to group rules) let us know here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1842826446542272
To attend the monthly LEA Zoom meeting mark your calendar for the second
Monday of each month at 11: 00 AM
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82977588013?pwd=urfkjO44hhwpBbKU1OIZDnPfJlbg0R.1#
success
To read LEA’s mission https://www.trianglecaremanagement.org/embracing-aging-
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Easy/Moderate/Difficult Hikes
Hiking season has started.
I hike Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Sign up below to receive hiking information
New hikers must register and sign a waiver.
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Movie Meetup
Wednesday - Mary Pickford Theater
Movie Meetups will start soon.!
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This Week's Recommendation
The Australian TV series The Royal Flying Doctor Service captures the heart and spirit of life in the vast Outback, celebrating courage, compassion, and community. It's based on real-life stories, and with the stunning cinematography, the show highlights the dedication of medical professionals who risk everything to bring emergency care to some of the most remote parts of Australia.
Its strong character development and emotional authenticity make every episode both inspiring and deeply human. Balancing breathtaking aerial scenes with heartfelt personal moments, it is a powerful tribute to resilience and the enduring Australian ethos of looking out for one another.
Season 3 is now available on PBS. Occasionally, it wanders into telenovela drama, and then it redeems itself. Fascinating look at the service and life in the Australian outback.
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PALS’ no-cost educational seminars provide up-to-date information, resources and opportunities to engage in essential planning ahead conversations before a major health or life-altering event occurs. For info about upcoming PALS Seminars with in-person and zoom registration links click here.
9:30 to 11 am. 3rd Saturday
September thru June
| | PALS Death Cafe is a group-led open conversation about mortality that’s not a counseling or bereavement group. There’s no specified topics or designated outcomes. Just bring your questions about any aspect of death and dying that interests you. RSVP for the next PALS Death Cafe here. | | |
PALS Circle is an hour of enjoyable connection, support and friendship among LGBTQ+ seniors and allies. There's no agenda, no formal topic — just fun conversation and camaraderie each Monday from 6:00 to 7:00 PM on ZOOM. Sign up to receive PALS Circle announcements here.
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Evening Chat Group
Evening Chat Group 5pm to 6:30pm PST Every Wednesday
Join us for a lively Zoom chat, catch up with friends, and make new ones! Open to Lesbians in and out of the Coachella Valley — California — all 50 States — and beyond. Please email JayneStrelecki@gmail.com to receive the weekly invite & reminder with Zoom meeting ID and Passcode. Bring a friend! A different host each week!
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1st and 3rd Fridays are Wine Down Friday’s with Guest Speakers 5PM-6:30P. 600 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs.
Network, share info about your business/upcoming event or just drop-by to unwind and make new friends!
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Gay Country Western Dancing - Saturday Nights
Join the Dance Ranch for a great night of country western dancing, including two-step, waltz, shadow, East and West Coast swing, and line dances.
It all happens at Step By Step
933 Crossley Road, Palm Springs.
Admission is $5
Lesson is at 7pm. Dancing from 7:30-9:30pm
Dance Ranch Palm Springs is a country western dance group serving the LGBTQ+ community and its friends. Country dancers of all levels are welcome!
Learn more about Dance Ranch and find out what they’re teaching at danceranchps.org.
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Sunniva Sorby (fellow hiker and Palm Springs snowbird) joins Wild Women Expeditions as their Polar Ambassador representing adventures across Svalbard, the Canadian Arctic, and Antarctica.
To kick things off, I’ll be joining their Svalbard voyage from June 15–25, 2026, and I’d like to extend a heartfelt invitation to all women to join us on this incredible journey. Right now, Wild Women Expeditions is offering a 20% promotion until the end of October — it’s a rare opportunity to be part of something transformative. – click here for more details
Having traveled much of my life, I know that how, and with whom we travel matters more than ever. That’s why I’m proud to align with a company like Wild Women Expeditions, where we share core values of:
Women’s empowerment
Female leadership / Elevating one another
Giving back and adding value to every place/community we visit
Together, we’ll have a ton of fun and experience the raw beauty of Svalbard, connect deeply with nature, and contribute to a legacy of women supporting women at the ends of the Earth.
I hope to see some of you on deck in Svalbard this June.
Sunniva Sorby
Polar Explorer | Citizen Scientist | Polar Ambassador for Wild Women Expeditions
** By the way Bellsund is on the itinerary and weather permitting we’ll explore the area around Bamsebu ( yup that teeny trappers hut I spent 19 months in) which is steeped in history and rich with wildlife and wildflowers.
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Join me in Svalbard, Norway June 15-25th 2026
with Wild Women Expeditions!
** TEDx Talk in Victoria - 14 mins
** Check out our Monthly Event Series
with Exploring by the Seat of your pants!
Author.Explorer.Activist.Educator
www.sunnivasorby.com
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Our history will NOT be hidden!
Not with us two old lesbians and our awesome guests on guard! Our free podcast LGBTQ History Alive! with Ronni and Kelly begins
January 1, 2024.
Meet the Two Old Lesbians!
Ronni Sanlo, Ed.D. is a retired UCLA professor and LGBTQ Center director, founder of the award-winning Lavender Graduation, and editor of the four volume This Day in LGBTQ History. Kelly Watson, Ph.D, DDS, is a retired recovery center director and business professional, and still and always involved with 12 step recovery.
2024 Schedule - Check it Out!
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