A Brief History of Pride in Palm Springs 🏳️‍🌈

🌵 Before rainbow flags lined Palm Canyon Drive, Pride in Palm Springs began quietly with a dinner, a few brave voices, and a community ready to be seen.

The first event, held in 1986, was called Sizzle, a fundraiser dinner and variety show at the Riviera Resort. There was no parade, no festival crowd, just a gathering of locals determined to celebrate who they were in a time when visibility still came with risk.

By the next year, those same organizers brought Pride into the streets. The inaugural Desert Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade featured just 35 entries and a few hundred spectators. It was humble, heartfelt, and historic — a first step toward what would become one of California’s biggest LGBTQ+ celebrations.

Through the 1990s, Pride events expanded alongside the city’s growing reputation as a welcoming oasis. By the mid-2000s, Palm Springs Pride had transformed into a full weekend of parades, performances, and advocacy — a reflection of the city’s own evolution.

Today, Greater Palm Springs Pride draws more than 200,000 attendees, turning downtown into a joyful explosion of color and community. Yet its heart remains the same: a small desert town standing tall for equality and inclusion.

For a deeper look at the organization’s milestones, visit pspride.org/history.