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Editorial

The Bottom Line (Palm Desert, CA)
June 6, 2003

My favorite time of the year in Palm Springs is the summer, especially the warm nights. I love lying by the pool and looking up at all of the stars, watching the satellites pass overhead while listening to the coyotes howl in the distance. Even when my partner and I lived in Los Angeles, we would come to Palm Springs and stay for a few weeks in the summer, enjoying starlit dinners and the relaxed atmosphere that a Palm Springs summer offers.

Last weekend the Desert Gay Tourism Guild and the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism hosted a familiarization tour of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. The goal was to reinforce to national and international journalists and community guests that, with 330 days of sunshine a year, Palm Springs is a year-round destination. There is a strong bond and cooperative effort between the two organizations; both realize that the marketing of Palm Springs is not seasonal. While the tourist trade in the summer does typically slack off from high season, lately there has been an increase in the number of summer visitors.

As writer Craig Lawver points our in this issue’s cover story, "With over forty LGBT resorts, numerous nightclubs, shops, restaurants and special events, the community now wields a significant amount of economic might. Estimates on the size of the LGBT community in Palm Springs are between 40 to 50 percent of the city’s total population. Palm Springs has been voted one of the top LGBT travel destinations in the world by the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association."

The cooperative efforts of the Desert Gay Tourism Guild and the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism are an excellent example of how two organizations can work toward a common goal. Summers in Palm Springs are sultry, lively, and beautiful. With these two groups working on new marketing tools, Palm Springs is well on its way to being a true year-round destination.

On Wednesday, June 4, the California Assembly passed AB-205, Jackie Goldberg’s bill granting gay, lesbian, and straight domestic partners many of the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. AB-205 gives California domestic partners the similar rights as the Vermont civil union law. Two national think tanks released a study concluding that AB-205will have a positive impact that could possibly save California millions in tax dollars. One of the study’s co-author, Brad Sears states, "Our analysis makes it clear that providing California families with equal rights is fiscally responsible. Further, making domestic partners accountable to each other not only strengthens families, it has a positive impact on the state budget."

AB-205 will also result in savings to private businesses. Banks, credit card companies and other lending institutions will be able to recover additional money when domestic partners become responsible for one another’s debt. Geoffrey Kors, Executive Director of Equality California states, "Our community (the LGBT community) is anxious to take on the legal responsibilities as well as the rights and benefits that come with a committed relationships. AB-205 will result in a loss of government benefits and higher income taxes for some people, and will require mutual responsibility for debt and disclosure of financial conflicts of interest for all registered partners.

But that’s okay, we want to take on the responsibilities that come with the rights and benefits." The bill should pass the Democrat- controlled State Senate with ease. Our community has fought a long, hard battle to achieve nearly equal rights with those of married couples. While AB-205 is not comparable to Vermont’s civil union legislation, it leads the nation in giving us both the rights and responsibilities of a marriage. Couples who wish to celebrate their relationship by registering as domestic partners should consider both before taking that step.