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“There’s
hardly anything that’s lasted as long in gay
culture that people are still so passionate about,”
Sanker told
Thirty
years ago, budding impresario Jeffrey Sanker
had just moved to Los Angeles from New York, where
he had cut his event-producing teeth at clubs like
Studio 54 and Private Eyes. He was
working at Studio One, the legendary disco
that was a touchstone of early West Hollywood.
“I
went out to Palm Springs and thought wouldn’t it
be a cool idea to get people out of the nightclubs
and into the beautiful desert,” he tells.
“We
started this as a weekend, long before social
media, and I was just inviting my friends,” he
says. “It was 500 people at the Marquis Hotel
for three days and we had one DJ for the whole
weekend. We had pool parties and it was so hot we
put ice cubes in the pool.”
Cut
to this coming weekend when the desert dance
mega-party is expected to attract 30,000 LGBTQ+
revelers over three days starting Friday, kicking
off with an afternoon pool party and keeping up a
full schedule revolving around the Saturday night
White Party with the theme “House of Gods”.
The
following day brings another notable event, the
big Sunday tea dance that culminates in special
synchronized fireworks. “At the tea dance, we
have 22-year-olds and 82-year-olds,” Sanker says.
“There’s no other event around the world that
has such a diverse age range. The customer who was
25 is now 50 and they still want to go out and
have a little fun.”
Over
the years, the White Party stage has seen iconic
entertainers make their way to Palm Springs,
including early appearances that helped to
popularize the careers of Lady Gaga and Ariana
Grande. Other marquee names have included Jennifer
Lopez, Kesha, Mary J. Blige and Kyle Minogue.
Lady
Gaga’s midnight show in 2009 was particularly
memorable for Sanker. “We had a contract for the
White Party signed six months before and she had
blown up and got an offer to do Saturday Night
Live. Her manager called me, and I said, ‘She’s
a friend and I’ll release her. I’m happy for
her,’” he recalls. “She decided not to do
Saturday Night Live and did my party instead, just
to support the community. It really said something
amazing about who she is. And, of course, she was
on SNL two months later with Madonna.”
This
year, Sanker is presenting “legends,”
including RuPaul Drag Race star Shangela and
legend Deborah Cox. “Shangela is a legend of our
time and Debra Cox is a legend for supporting the
gay community for the last 20 years,” he says.
And he’s got one other “big surprise”
performer and friend to the community about whom
he’s remaining tight-lipped.
“It’s
hard to give yourself accolades,” Sanker says,
“but looking back 30 years ago, Sonny Bono was
the mayor of Palm Springs and they were not
gay-friendly. But we toughed it out and look at
how gay Palm Springs is now, with a lot of people
buying homes.”
The
weekend is also a major economic driver for the
city, with an estimated $1.5 million in revenue
just from the hotel tax revenue alone, not to
mention all the money attendees spend at
restaurants, shopping and accommodations. “They
give me a proclamation every year,” Sanker says,
“and they gave me a star on the Walk of Fame. My
parents liked seeing it, so that was nice. There’s
hardly anything that’s lasted as long in gay
culture that people are still so passionate
about."
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