You don’t have to be gay to join, and Smith also stresses that rodeo is a family affair. Top performers qualify to compete on the international circuit, made up of 24 state groups from across the United States and Canada. The weekend also included a royalty competition that culminated with the crowning of a drag queen and king. They ranged in age from 18 to 72 and competed in 13 events, from bull riding and calf roping to goat dressing, in which athletes in drag must wrangle underwear onto a goat as quickly as possible. “But now convention centers have even started inviting us, because they see the business value.”įor three days in late April, more than 100 men and women from across Texas and at least nine other states gathered at Mesquite Arena in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite to compete in the association’s 33rd annual Texas Tradition Rodeo. “Used to be, they wouldn’t even allow us into venues, and we’d have to find a spot wherever we could,” Smith says. Tim Smith, the organization’s president, says many competitors felt safer performing under aliases. When the Texas Gay Rodeo Association was founded in 1985, most of its members were still in the closet. ![]() ![]() Rainbow Rodeo The Texas Gay Rodeo Association has been busting stereotypes for more than three decades.
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