Save a Horse, Ride the Rainbow: BigHorn Rodeo Returns Bareback
The Road To 50 Years of Gay Rodeo
By Trad Sevin | Photos from Emily Ajir
Local drag queens announce the start of a roping event while a babble of brimmed contestants practice their toss behind cattle gates. The valley winds kick up glitter and dust with the holler of sinewy horses ready to run, while Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” can be heard bumping in the distance. A rider suffers a blow to the head after riding Banana Boat, the only bucking bull on site. This is the annual BigHorn Rodeo, Nevada’s very own queer roundup.
The International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) was incorporated in 1985, however the first official gay rodeo took place in Reno, NV in 1976 with 125 contestants. Over the years, Reno remained a hub for rodeo and for the IGRA, which quickly expanded to include chapters in Colorado, California, Texas, and Arizona. Today, the IGRA maintains fifteen regional member associations, collectively representing over twenty states as well as an appendage in Alberta, Canada.
Each year, the BigHorn Rodeo rattles the city’s queer communities with a two-day exhibition of sportsmanship and Western heritage, disrupting our global understanding of what a “cowboy” is supposed to look like. This, of course, extends beyond members of the queer diaspora –– anyone of legal age is welcome to compete, regardless of identity. This year, BigHorn unfolded over Memorial Day Weekend with main stage events kicking off Saturday May 25 and Sunday the 26 at Horseman’s Park, the rodeo’s address since 1994. BigHorn serves the Las Vegas community through the Nevada Gay Rodeo Association (NGRA), one of the largest chapters of the IGRA. When I first learned of BigHorn, my initial thought was, “A queer rodeo in Las Vegas? Duh.” It makes perfect sense for the Vegas Valley, and is a major artery in bridging the gap between queer and Western American culture in one of the largest cities in the American West.
Doug Graff, the Rodeo Director at BigHorn, has been a part of the industry for thirty years and believes in the standing power of Las Vegas as a rodeo town, despite the city’s mulish reputation when it comes to longevity.
“Vegas can be stubborn,” he explained in the middle of the arena. “It’s tough to pull people out of the clubs and bars and get them to events like this. But it’s so important and makes such an impact.”
From its inception, the IGRA has worked to break down stereotypes and stigmas surrounding the queer community through a shared appreciation for rodeo and the lifestyles that support it. This year’s BigHorn Rodeo was packed with patrons young and old topped with their unique take on the classic cowboy hat, some studded with rhinestones and floral arrangements. But the reactions were not always received with open arms, as is customary in queer liberation throughout history. In 1988, for example, the IGRA was poised to host its second IGRA Finals Rodeo in Reno, but the event was canceled due in part to pushback from 1,519 community members who signed a petition opposing the rodeo in its entirety. According to an article written by First Hand Events Magazine and shared on the IGRA’s archival page, homophobia may have been at work.
Banana Boat, the only bucking bull at BigHorn 2024.
Even still, the gusto of gay rodeo stood strong over the decades and brought many aspiring cowboys and cowgirls to their knees (in excitement). In April of 1983, the Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey’s Circus put on “The Greatest Show on Earth”, which was the first large fundraiser for the New York-based Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), a leading organization dedicated to research and support during the AIDS epidemic. The following October, “The World’s Toughest Rodeo” bucked expectations at Madison Square Garden.
What seems to puzzle most people when discussing gay rodeo is how deep its history runs, and the layers that overlap its journey into the present. If nothing else, gay rodeo is the lifeline that sustains a pulse on queer representation in an overwhelmingly hetero space. Since 1985, Las Vegas has been home to the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), a bombastic event held at the Thomas & Mack Center of UNLV. For many, this is the “only” rodeo…a position held only by the ill-informed. When I attended BigHorn on Saturday, my phone was going off until sunset — friends could not believe a queer rodeo existed in Las Vegas, and were dying to know more.
The competition included the usual go-rounds of speed, roping, and rough stock categories, along with unique iterations like Wild Drag Racing and Steer Decorating. Attendees dressed to impress, pulling inspiration from the Kentucky Derby and the Easter Parade in New Orleans, sun hats and all. The contestants reflected a ramshackle of Western identity, proving that rodeo belongs to everyone.
On Sunday, BigHorn held a Goat Dressing race open to the public, intended for curious bystanders who may have dressed up as a cowboy or cowgirl for Halloween in their youth. One attendee, Alejandra Borja, patiently waited for their turn to enter the arena where goats would be dressed in a pair of whitey-tighties as quickly as possible.
“Yeah there’s a little petting area by one of the trees and earlier I fed one of the goats so hopefully I get the same goat since we know each other now,” she said with a grin.
Alejandra grew up in Los Fresnos, TX, where she attended an FFA-accredited high school, a certification that offers more agricultural opportunities for its students. Living across southern Texas, Alejandra spent plenty of time around rodeos in Houston.
“I’ve been to so many rodeos throughout Texas, but I’ve never felt as welcomed and comfortable as I do at a gay rodeo,” she said. “Here, you can be exactly who you are and you don’t have to worry about anybody giving you weird eyes and everyone’s so nice to each other.”
Alejandra (left) teams up to dress a goat in a community-participation event.
Alejandra pulled the panties up on her goat with impressive speed and crossed the finish line beneath 95 degree heat. Another participant ran circles around a tether post with their goat, named Julio, who was bleating with snark.
“You see the gay rodeo on television and stuff too, but out here you can actually participate in real life,” Alejandra said.
On top of the cattle chutes, a parade of black and brown steers grunted and pressed their hooves into the dirt, waiting their turn to be released for roping and dressing. The Wild Drag Race was up next, a team effort in which one contestant mounts the steer in full drag while their partner leads the steer across a finish line in record time. Buckets of chalk rest against the gates, with men and women sporting glitterbomb wigs and polka dot skirts. Brett Sullard, a contestant wearing a shimmery blue dress and a slime yellow beehive wig, ate a banana to replenish before entering the arena.
While other major rodeos like the NFR strike and disperse before the dust settles, the community that BigHorn has fostered never kicks off its boots. Leaders and locals have developed a strong following that resembles a small town hooey of friends than rivals in rodeo, taking to queer spaces like Badlands Bar and Charlie’s Las Vegas for trivia nights, karaoke, and “Cowboy Bingo” throughout the year. BigHorn is a community haul that embodies the grit and tenacity of Las Vegas and the American West, where everyone pitches in and plays a part in the spectacle.
Brett Sullard prepares for the Wild Drag Race with a banana.
By Sunday evening, crushed beer cans and pulled pork sandwiches dotted the tables of Horseman’s Park, where the contestants and patrons celebrated another successful, sassy roundup ahead of the awards ceremony. In rodeo, belt buckles are a source of pride and prestige, an essential piece for any champion of any caliber allusive to the faded gold and glory of yester-Westerns. An archival display was neatly arranged by the Gay And Lesbian Rodeo Heritage Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose exhibit featured the sparkling buckles of rodeos past.
This year, Doug received his own buckle in recognition of his work as Rodeo Director, and decorated contestants like Brett walked away covered in ribbons.
Cowgirls and cowboys cheered and yee-haw’d well into the night and the energy hovered over Horseman’s Park even while the animals slept in their pens –– next year will be the 50th year of gay rodeos, and the 40th anniversary of IGRA. Attendees were buzzing with excitement, many of whom will travel to Reno for the big celebration in October of 2025, dubbed “The Road To 50”. Covered in dust and reeling from primal panache, the crowd at BigHorn Rodeo left their mark at Horseman’s Park and saddled up for the next mile, a winding road towards inclusion and acceptance that melts into the desert sunset.
