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USA TODAY
I m Kristin Scharkey, features editor for The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, wishing you a happy Friday and sincere apologies for missing our Thursday edition. The news cycle never sleeps! We re still here : Palm Springs historic gay bars see light at the end of the tunnel. Despite more than a year of pandemic-related closures, many of the bars located in the Southern California destination are open again.
The city has long been one of the most popular LGBTQ destinations in the country. These bars are more than just drinking places, Rob Giesecke, owner of Chill Bar Palm Springs, told Desert Sun reporter Amanda Ulrich. This is where the community comes together.”
Email
‘We’re still here’: Historic gay bars in Palm Springs see light at the end of the tunnel
Despite more than a year of closures, many of the bars on Arenas Road are open again. These bars are more than just drinking places, one owner said.
Story by Amanda Ulrich | Photos by Taya Gray
Published
2:55 pm UTC May. 7, 2021
Bartenders at Chill Bar are slinging drinks a vodka soda here, a couple “margarita martinis” there beneath two glittering, life-size mannequins suspended from the ceiling.
Outside, a group of women in all pink and matching cowboy hats arrive on the back of a bar bike. Up the street, a server at Hunters offers up a tray of neon Jello shots to customers sitting on the patio. Masks, occupancy limits and social distancing aside, it could be any pre-pandemic Friday night on Arenas Road, an entire block lined with gay bars and businesses in downtown Palm Springs.