Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Palm Springs • Coachella Valley Celebrates 25th Garden Party, Silver Palm Edition and Announces 2026 Honorees Photographer Michael Childers to Receive HRC Community Impact Award and Variety’s Marc Malkin to Receive HRC Visibility Award KESQ’s Sandie Newton to Host Milestone Program and Awards Presentation at the Dinah Shore Estate, November 7
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Palm Springs • Coachella Valley will celebrate a milestone 25 years in the making when HRC members, supporters, business and community leaders, advocates and allies gather for the 25th HRC Palm Springs Garden Party, Silver Palm Edition, on Saturday, November 7, at the iconic Dinah Shore Estate in Palm Springs.
Under the theme “Celebrating 25 Years of Community. Stronger Together.” the milestone fundraiser will celebrate the people and partnerships that have sustained the Garden Party across generations while raising critical funds to advance the Human Rights Campaign’s work for LGBTQ+ equality.
This year’s celebration will honor acclaimed photographer and philanthropist Michael Childers with the HRC Community Impact Award and Variety Senior Culture & Events Editor Marc Malkin with the HRC Visibility Award. Award-winning broadcast journalist and KESQ Desert Chat host Sandie Newton will serve as host of the garden party program and awards presentation.
“Twenty-five years of community does not happen by chance. It happens because people set an intention, show up, give what they have to give and create something larger than themselves,” said Brian O’Connor, executive producer of the Garden Party and a member of the national Boards of Directors of the Human Rights Campaign and HRC Foundation.
“The Silver Palm Edition is both a celebration of that legacy and a declaration that our work continues. Michael Childers and Marc Malkin embody that spirit in distinct ways: Michael has transformed extraordinary artistry into decades of generosity, while Marc has used journalism and the power of storytelling to expand LGBTQ+ visibility in mainstream culture. Honoring them at our 25th Garden Party is a powerful reflection of where we’ve been, what we value and the future we are creating together,” added O’Connor.
2026 HONOREES
Award-winning Turner Classic Movies host, film expert and author Dave Karger will present the HRC Community Impact Award to Michael Childers, recognizing his extraordinary artistic legacy, decades of philanthropy and enduring commitment to strengthening the LGBTQ+ and Coachella Valley communities.
For more than five decades, Childers has created iconic portraits of artists, entertainers and cultural trailblazers, producing a body of work recognized internationally for its artistry, authenticity and historical significance. Equally significant is what he has done with that work: throughout his career, Childers has generously donated his photography to charitable organizations, helping raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for causes supporting the LGBTQ+ community and others in need.
In the Coachella Valley, his philanthropy has benefited organizations including the Palm Springs Gay Men’s Chorus, DAP Health, The LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert, Palm Springs Art Museum, the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards, the Human Rights Campaign and numerous organizations supporting equality, healthcare, education, the arts and community service. His photographs have become both treasured works of art and powerful instruments for philanthropy and community impact.
The HRC Visibility Award will be presented to Marc Malkin, recognizing a career that has helped bring LGBTQ+ stories, voices and people into greater visibility across entertainment, culture and mainstream media.
Malkin is Variety’s Senior Culture & Events Editor and one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces on the red carpet. An award-winning and Emmy-nominated journalist with more than three decades of experience across broadcast, print and digital media, he has built a career at the center of entertainment journalism, celebrity culture and major industry events.
Malkin began his career at the Boston-based LGBTQ newspaper Bay Windows before moving into celebrity journalism at Premiere magazine. He went on to write, report and edit for the New York Daily News, Us Weekly and New York magazine.
He later spent more than a decade at E! News as a reporter, editor, managing editor for film and on-air correspondent, and also served as a supervising producer at The Insider. His television appearances have included CNN, Good Morning America, Today and Entertainment Tonight.
Throughout his career, Malkin has interviewed thousands of leading figures in film, television, music and popular culture and has become a familiar presence at the Oscars, Golden Globes, Emmys, Grammys and other defining moments in entertainment and awards-season coverage.
His connection to LGBTQ+ journalism reaches back to the beginning of his career at Bay Windows, New England’s LGBTQ newspaper. In 2017, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists honored Malkin with its Lisa Ben Award for his commitment to bringing LGBTQ+ stories to light. The Advocate previously named him among the 50 Most Influential LGBTQ People in Media. Through his reporting, visibility and leadership in entertainment journalism, Malkin has helped shape how stories are told, who is seen and why representation matters.
SANDIE NEWTON, PROGRAM HOST
Sandie Newton, award-winning broadcast journalist and host of KESQ News Channel 3’s Desert Chat, will guide the Garden Party program and awards presentation.
Since making the Coachella Valley her full-time home, Newton has increasingly used her platform to tell the stories of the region’s nonprofit organizations and the people they serve. She created and hosted NBCares for six years before joining KESQ as host of
Desert Chat. Now in its fifth season, Desert Chat features local businesses, events and nonprofit organizations throughout the Coachella Valley.
A lifelong advocate and ally of the LGBTQ+ community, Newton has used her reporting to amplify organizations and issues serving LGBTQ+ people, including LGBTQ+ youth, HIV/AIDS healthcare and organizations working to build stronger and more inclusive communities.
25TH GARDEN PARTY: A COMMUNITY MILESTONE
Produced by an all-volunteer planning committee of more than 20 community leaders, the Garden Party brings together more than 600 pro-equality supporters while generating critical resources to advance HRC’s national mission. HRC has recognized the Palm Springs Garden Party as its “Best Signature Community Event” for three consecutive years, from 2023 through 2025 for excellence in fundraising, community engagement and mission advancement.
This year’s Silver Palm Edition celebrates not only 25 years of the Garden Party, but also the volunteers, donors, sponsors, community partners and guests whose participation has created and sustained this Coachella Valley tradition.
The 25th HRC Palm Springs Garden Party, Silver Palm Edition, will take place Saturday, November 7, 2026, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Dinah Shore Estate in Palm Springs.
Tickets, Co-Host packages, sponsorship opportunities and information about donating to the silent auction are available at HRC.org/PSGardenParty.
HOW TO SUPPORT
HRC Palm Springs • Coachella Valley invites community members, advocates and allies to become more directly involved in the organization’s local work.
The all-volunteer Steering Committee engages HRC members and supporters throughout the Coachella Valley, develops volunteer leaders, builds community partnerships, raises critical funds and mobilizes advocates in support of LGBTQ+ equality. Community members interested in serving on the Steering Committee, Garden Party Planning Committee or other volunteer initiatives are encouraged to email HRCPalmSpringsCV@gmail.com.
As the Garden Party celebrates 25 years of community, HRC Palm Springs • Coachella Valley volunteer leaders are equally focused on what comes next: expanding participation, developing new leaders and building an even stronger community committed to equality for all.
ABOUT THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people, with 4 million members and supporters. The HRC Foundation works to ensure LGBTQ+ people are safe, seen and supported where it matters most: at school, at work and in every community across the country. From the courtroom to the classroom, from Congress to corporate America, HRC and the HRC Foundation build power through partnerships, storytelling and action, working to create a future rooted in equity, freedom and belonging for all LGBTQ+ people. When We Show Up, Equality Wins.
ABOUT HRC PALM SPRINGS • COACHELLA VALLEY
HRC Palm Springs • Coachella Valley is one of 31 all-volunteer-led Steering Committees across the country that help advance the Human Rights Campaign’s mission at the local level. Through community engagement, fundraising, advocacy, membership development and partnerships, the Steering Committee connects HRC’s national work with supporters, advocates and allies throughout the Coachella Valley.
Together with its volunteer Garden Party Planning Committee, HRC Palm Springs • Coachella Valley produces programs and events that build community and support HRC’s work for LGBTQ+ equality.
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