17/10/2024
News is Out reports on the history and development of the National Gay Rodeo, held in Denver, Colarado over many decades. Indeed, the movement is almost fifty years old, having first been established over in Nevada in 1976. Rebecca Scofield and Elyssa Ford report for a study at the Universities of Idaho and Northwest Missouri that "In 1981, John King opened Charlie’s Denver, a gay country western bar managed by Wayne Jakino. The venue provided a space for cowfolx – or queer ranchers, rodeoers and country western enthusiasts across the gender and sexuality spectrum – to gather and form a community. Friends who met at the bar traveled en masse to the 1982 Reno rodeo. In 1983, they held their own rodeo in Denver, calling it the Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo. The Denver rodeo was the first gay rodeo to take place outside of Nevada, but it was soon joined by others, with four additional rodeos taking place in Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Dallas by the end of 1986.... Having survived AIDS, homophobic legislation and national boycotts, the future of gay rodeo – even such long-standing events like the Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo – is far from assured. While the AIDS epidemic decimated gay rodeo in some ways, it also attracted people to its ranks who wanted to fundraise for their queer community. Similarly, homophobic attacks united gay rodeo against outside opposition. Since the late 1990s, the International Gay Rodeo Association’s story has turned from boom to bust, with more associations shuttering each year. By 2013, there were more defunct associations than active ones for the first time in International Gay Rodeo Association history, and in 2019 the organization held just 10 rodeos versus 22 in its prime. The COVID-19 pandemic was a crushing blow to a group already struggling for survival. Yet there is hope for the future, as more recent years have seen 12 rodeos back on the circuit. The Colorado Gay Rodeo Association packed stands at its 40th anniversary rodeo in 2023, but it may have a bumpy ride ahead." Thanks to News is Out, who in turn republished that article from the Conversation. https://newsisout.com/
