Palm Springs is a very gay place. No one is arguing with that. About half the California town’s adult residents are gay, the mayor is gay, and clothing-optional gay establishments dot the landscape. But a recent transplant's new memoir, Postcards From Palm Springs, is riling locals who see it as an over-the-top depiction of a sex-mad town. The LA Times pays a visit.
Robert Julian’s book, intended as the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil of the desert city, brims with anecdotes about naked exhibitionists, S&M lovers, and lecherous 60-somethings. "It was never meant to be taken personally," says Julian. "The whole thing is just ludicrous,” said one resident. "It's just a nice place to live." (More gays stories.)