Palm Desert City Council rejects call to roll back recognition of Pride

The Palm Desert City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday to take no action on a proposal by Mayor Pro Tem Joe Pradetto to discontinue displaying banners on City Hall and revise the city's diversity resolution.

The decision followed nearly four hours of public testimony in a packed City Council Chambers.

Pradetto, in one of his first actions after being appointed Mayor Pro Tem, introduced the proposal at a Dec. 11 council meeting. He requested staff return with two items: an action to rescind Resolution 24-038, which would discontinue the practice of displaying banners on City Hall, and an update to Resolution 2018-09, the city's commitment to diversity.

Resolution 2024-038, adopted in June 2024, formalized how Palm Desert recognizes LGBTQ Pride Month, including issuing an annual proclamation, participating in local Pride events, promoting Pride through city communications, and displaying a commemorative banner at City Hall during local Pride celebrations. Rescinding the resolution would undo those practices as official city policy.

The second item involves Resolution 2018-09, adopted six years earlier, which affirms the city’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and nondiscrimination, including protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The proposal sparked intense backlash from the LGBTQ community and other lawmakers, including members of the Palm Springs City Council and State Assemblymember Greg Wallis.

Despite having less than a full day’s notice, it was standing room only Tuesday as more than 150 people packed Council Chambers. A representative from the fire department had to usher some of the crowd into an overflow room. The city had earlier received roughly 200 email comment submissions and almost 200 people were watching on YouTube.

Pradetto reiterated that part of the reason why he brought up the issue “was in response to citizens and residents that reached out to me about their concerns about the LGBT banner that flew on City Hall during November, recognizing PS Pride, in that it constituted unequal treatment.”

Out of more than 50 people who spoke in-person and on Zoom, just five spoke up in support of rescinding the resolutions and removing the banner. A ratio that was mirrored in the hundreds of emails.

Pradetto went further and said that there is bubbling resentment among Palm Desert residents who oppose “specific symbols” and that celebrating Pride at all in Palm Desert is a concern for residents, “because they felt that the images of the worst parts of Palm Springs Pride would come into Palm Desert and disrupt the community,” without clarifying what he or residents meant by “worst parts” of Palm Springs Pride.

Many of the speakers were Palm Desert residents and business owners who expressed embarrassment that the City Council had even considered rescinding the resolutions.

Residents from other valley cities told councilmembers that if the resolutions were rescinded, it would be a stain not just on the city’s reputation, but on its coffers because they would no longer shop in Palm Desert and would discourage friends and family from patronizing Palm Desert businesses.

“On Sunday… I spent $750 to buy tickets to “Moulin Rouge” [at the McCallum Theatre] for my husband and I. Two weeks ago I bought a suit for $500 at the mall. Couple of weeks ago, I was at the Living Desert and the past few weeks I’ve spent hundreds of dollars in restaurants,” Joe Spinelli said. “Think about it. You’re going to lose me.”

As the sun set, public speakers were still approaching the podium, one-by-one, some in anger, some frustrated, and some hardly able to speak out of grief from past or recent injustices and as they reminded councilmembers that hateful and homophobic actions are not a thing of the past.

Lex Ortega from The LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert recalled growing up in the valley and said that despite fond memories of shopping at the mall and going to the Greek Festival, those memories don’t’ outweigh the hate they experienced when they were called a gay slur in Palm Desert.

Other residents and business owners said they have had personal Pride flags torn down.

“Palm Desert does not always feel safe or welcoming for the LGBTQ+ community as one of the more conservative leaning cities in the Coachella Valley,” Becks Lorton, an 11-year resident said. “Marginalized communities already feel less accepted here and you just reinforced that tenfold.”

In response to much of the impassioned testimony for speakers in favor of the Pride banner, Pradetto said that while he empathizes with their struggles, “I’m making my decisions on principle and reason, not emotion.”

The mayor pro tem said that he has “the courage to say something and propose a third way.”

Toward the end of Pradetto’s pre-written remarks, it was hard for him to get a few words out without interruptions from the crowd.

“I am giving myself a Christmas present this year…” he started, amidst jeers from the crowd. He continued in the third person, “Let the record show that today, Joe Pradetto took a stand for liberty, tolerance, and equality and that this is the best gift anyone could receive.”

In short succession every other councilmember and the mayor assured the crowd that the city was safe and that they were in favor of keeping the banners and keeping the resolution affirming diversity in the city.

“This is not who Palm Desert is,” said Councilmember Jan Harnik. “It just isn’t.”

Kathleen Kelly, a former Palm Desert councilmember who helped draft the original 2024 resolution, said, “I thought I was taking a non-controversial position,” and that when the city has a banner about Hunger Action Month, there are no complaints from people who are well-fed.

Before her two minutes were up, Kelly had a parting thought for the councilmembers:

“So what does it mean that some of your constituents have pushed back about Pride? Maybe it means that the current policy is important and is working. Because that pushback reveals how important it is to celebrate the occasion.”