Summary: George Zander was one of that cadre of dedicated Democrats who was instrumental in turning this Valley blue. That, together with his tireless advocacy for the LGBT community, earned him a place in the hearts of many of us. His death is a loss but we are a better community for having had him in it.
Hard news reached me yesterday that my old friend George Zander, whom I had known for the better part of two decades, died yesterday at at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.
A decent regard for the truth compels me to acknowledge that George was the victim of a hate crime at the end of October. As a result of the injuries he sustained, he had to be treated for a double fracture of his hip. We do not know for certain at this point whether there was a causal relationship between the crime and his death.
Nevertheless, as a lawyer with some experience in the criminal justice system I can observe that this could not have been a worse development for the two men accused in the hate crime. And worse for them, George’s death occurred within the time window during which the offense is presumptively criminal. And if there is the slightest degree of causality involved, both men could well face the death penalty.
Yet it would do a disservice to George’s memory to think of him in no other light then as the victim of a hate crime. There was much more to George than that. My first encounter with George Zander came in the late 1990s, at a meeting of Democrats of the Desert. The time had come for the election of officers and George was nominated. Having just recently relocated to the desert from King County, Washington, George gracefully declined.
A few years later, however, George did become chair of the desert Stonewall Democrats, and under his leadership, the desert Stonewall Democrats soon became one of the most significant political players in our Valley. George’s commitment to desert Stonewall Democrats, and indeed his commitment to LGBT activism, was absolute. He was a Liberal with a capital L, out, loud, proud, and unapologetic.
Yet, he was surprisingly low-key. While some of us (full disclosure), myself included, did not hesitate to run for and, mirablile dictu, and be elected to, public office, George always preferred the quieter path. Nonetheless, during his tenure as chair of Desert Stonewall Democrats and with Equality California, George spoke with a consistent sense of moral authority, and was, to all intents and purposes, the default “go to guy” for local media meeting the reaction of the queer nation in the Coachella Valley.
Still, George was more than just a mouthpiece. He, and Desert Stonewall Democrats set out to to accomplish what many thought was impossible: to turn our Valley blue. What had once been thought a reliable Republican redoubt has since become Democratic territory, thanks in large part to the efforts of George Zander. Some years ago, George was staffing the Desert Stonewall Democrats table at Village Fest in Palm Springs on a Thursday evening.
He recounted that a somewhat obviously Republican couple from Rancho Mirage (the lady's gold lamé cowboy hat with the bow at the back being the dead giveaway) wondered in front of the Desert Stonewall Democrats table and did a bit of a double take. The wife turned to the husband and said in a tone of considerable shock and dismay “Honey, it’s not our Valley anymore.”
I can’t think of a better achievement by which to remember George Zander.
It’s not their Valley anymore, thanks in large part to George.
Rest fiercely in power, old friend.
Requiem Æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat super eis, amen.
