Longtime attendees and newcomers alike poured into downtown Palm Springs on Sunday, Nov. 9 to conclude the 2025 Greater Palm Springs Pride celebration with the city’s annual parade — and many struck a defiant tone amid national disputes and tension over LGBTQ rights.
This year’s Palm Springs Pride Parade fell on an off-year for typical statewide elections. While several local officials and candidates for next year’s races were present Sunday, there seemingly weren’t as many campaign signs and political hats as, for example, last year’s parade that occurred days before the presidential election.
But even as jubilant music blared from artists such as Chappell Roan and Lizzo, politics — specifically, advocacy for LGBTQ health care and legal rights — was still on the minds of many attendees critical of President Donald Trump and his administration. This year’s parade theme, “Be Heard,” also nodded toward the current importance of LGBTQ visibility and advocacy.
Some were getting more involved with the event in part due to the current political moment. Roy Huebner, who lives in Palm Springs, typically watches the parade, but he was marching in it with the Human Rights Campaign’s local chapter for the first time, saying it’s important to “show that we’re visible and we’re not going to be marginalized again.”
“You get inundated with so much from the other side (on social media), and you think it’s half the country — it’s not,” said Huebner. “It’s not like (Trump) won by a landslide.”
Huebner, who said he lost many friends while living in San Francisco during the height of the AIDS epidemic, specifically criticized the Trump administration for targeting the rights of transgender people, saying it’s “not an issue” and doesn’t warrant federal action.
Several attendees at the morning parade held signs or wore shirts referring to the current political climate. At one point, a couple people even joined the parade line with a large handmade banner stating, “TRUMP MUST GO NOW!” The banner listed the website for “Refuse Fascism,” a national organization.
As a group from DAP Health walked down the road, they waved signs with the message, “Protect Medi-Cal. Protect queer lives,” while members of the LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert held colorful signs stating, “We will get through this together.”
Among those from the Center holding signs were Ray Chanatry and Doug Brown, a local married couple marching in the parade for the first time, though they’ve attended it in the past.
“It’s a place where everyone feels safe, everyone gets together and knows somebody else has got their back,” Brown said of the parade. “In a time when we’re really seeing so much division, it’s just bringing this whole group tighter together.”
They also noted the nationwide trend this year of corporate sponsors withdrawing their support for Pride events during Trump’s second administration, saying that adds to the importance of personally supporting the local event.
Chanatry also credited the city of Palm Springs for recently agreeing to give more financial support to Greater Palm Springs Pride and its festival amid rising costs to staff the weekend-long event.
“It’s an amazing testament to this community,” Chanatry said.
As usual, the parade drew a wide range of participants, including local nonprofits, drag queens, advocacy groups and businesses, as well as performances from groups such as the Palm Springs High School marching band and the Desert Flaggers. Later in the parade, some of the crowd’s loudest cheers were for members of LGBTQ groups from local high schools.
Many of the thousands of attendees came from outside the Coachella Valley for the annual event, with a few even coming across it by accident. Erica Hambly was visiting the area from Sonoma County with her husband, and their trip coincided with the celebration.
“It was a fun surprise,” Hambly said, adding it’s important to be an ally “not just on Pride,” but every day amid the current political climate.
Dominique Cavelier, a 78-year-old from the San Fernando Valley, said she often attends Pride celebrations across Southern California with her wife and friends to celebrate “we are who we are, and we’re not afraid to show it.”
Meanwhile, others were attending their first-ever Pride parades. Bill Sutton said he seasonally visits Palm Springs from Cleveland, but Sunday was his first time attending any Pride parade, with a few friends participating in the local event.
Sutton, 70, said he and his late husband first visited the Coachella Valley about 25 years ago, and “it just clicked,” drawing them back for several visits.
“With or without the Pride parade going on, the people here are just great — welcoming, friendly — just a very comfortable place to be,” Sutton said.
“I think people who live here are very lucky,” he added, gesturing toward the San Jacinto Mountains hovering over Palm Canyon Drive. “They don’t have those in Cleveland.”
Tom Coulter covers the mid-valley for The Desert Sun. Reach him at tcoulter@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: ‘Where everyone feels safe’: Palm Springs Pride Parade celebrates LGBTQ visibility
Reporting by Tom Coulter, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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