Lesbian Love Fest at the Dinah Shore Weekend
Origins of the Lesbian Getaway and the Real Dinah
Held annually at Palm Springs, California, the Dinah Shore Weekend is advertised as “the greatest women’s week on earth”, a tropical vacation getaway spot for lesbian couples and also singles looking for action. Known for its “girls gone wild” theme, this event attracts thousands of women for one long, risqué party with poolside romps, go-go dancers simulating sex onstage, and general debauchery not so commonly tolerated elsewhere.
Humble Origins – Dinah Shore Classic, Girl Bar
This festival has its humble origins in 1990, when owners of Los Angeles lesbian club Girl Bar Sandy Sachs and Robin Gans attended the Dinah Shore Classic ladies’ golf tournament – and left, bored out of their minds. As quoted in The Observer, Sachs said, “We only went because we knew one of the players...It was exhausting, all that walking, walking, walking in the heat. We looked at each other and said, "Never again".”
Sensing an opportunity, they started promoting hotel packages, music clubs and parties during the weekend. Initially targeting golfers and spectators for in-between breaks, the party eventually morphed into what it is today, largely due to their loyal clientele from the Girl Bar – and some claim, the closeted female golfing community, comprising up to 60 percent of the crowd, as Veronica Lee of The Observer estimates.
Dinah Shore the Woman – Actress, Singer, Hostess, Golfer
The woman herself has several claims to fame, among them being a high profile relationship with actor Burt Reynolds. Career-wise, she was also a noted television personality in the 70’s, and a singer and actress popular during the Big Band era.
An avid golfer, Shore had used her influence over powerful Hollywood executives to give a leg-up to the then-underfunded Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). The Colgate/ Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle Golf Championship was founded in 1972, and is now acknowledged as one of the four major golf tournaments on the LPGA tour.
It is slightly ironic that the lesbian community gather every year for a weekend to celebrate in the name of a woman who was never a champion for homosexual rights – in fact, one of Shore’s most famous hits is a song which oozes all the charm of a good, wholesome housewife – It’s So Nice to Have a Man Around the House. As AfterEllen claims, Shore also once famously declared, “I owe everything – my success and happiness – to men.”
Controversy – LPGA silence
Although Shore has never gone on record displaying disdain for homosexuals, many believe she was appalled at the turn of events. As Alice Pieszecki, a character from lesbian television series The L Word quipped, “Dinah Shore's dead. She died back in '94. And, actually, the word is that she hated her snooty little golf tournament turned into a spring break for lesbians. Refused to acknowledge it”.
The LPGA too, hardly embraces the idea of the tournament turning into a lesbian getaway; on the contrary, they would barely admit to knowing of the Dinah Shore Weekend’s existence. An LPGA spokeswoman had been quoted, “'We're all about golf and nothing else matters. Are there gays on the tour? I don't know. Do I care? No. Do I want to know? No. And the same way with our fans.”
The tournament’s name change to the Kraft Nabisco Championship is the only suggestion that they may actually know of the lesbian party scene, and are discreetly trying to distance themselves from it.
In a convenient twist, apparently many lesbians who flock to their tropical getaway are also unaware or disinterested in the golf tournament, or even of who Dinah Shore is.
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