Gay rodeos in Texas include gay and straight competitors and are a somewhat confidential comfort in polarized times

The calf-roping competitors pose for a portrait.
(Photo by Dawn Bottoms, The New Yorker)

Gay rodeos in Texas offer marginalized groups a place for competition and open-minded hospitality. "The urban-rural divide is as politically polarized as it's ever been; fans of gay rodeo have come to appreciate it as a place where rural signifiers—big hats, big trucks, George Strait songs—have a different valence," reports Rachel Monroe for The New Yorker from the Texas Tradition Rodeo in Denton: "The parking lot slowly filled with trucks bearing bumper stickers that said things like 'Been doing cowboy &$#! all day.' A tractor circled the arena, raking the dirt. . . . After everyone stood for the national anthem, an announcer came over the crackly PA system and offered a prayer, asking God to bless that day's competitors, 'the cowboys, cowgirls, and those in between.'"

Mac McMillan, who has been involved with the Texas Gay Rodeo Association for decades, told Monroe, "It started as a social club, and then AIDS came along. . . We did this to raise money, to take care of people. The medications were astronomically expensive, plus food, housing. We had to do what we had to do." Monroe reports, "Mac grew up in rural Texas. He realized at a young age that he was attracted to men, but he didn't see a way to reconcile his sexuality with the country lifestyle he preferred. . . . For Mac, the gay-rodeo world was a revelation. The scene was vibrant and defiant, a place he could feel fully himself. Daytimes were devoted to competition, and in the evening, everyone would gather for some sort of entertainment. . . . At the 1982, Joan Rivers served as grand marshal, ten thousand people packed the stands."

In Texas, political sentiment toward differences in sexual identity can be tense. "Conservative politicians in the state have increasingly turned their attention to controlling the public expression of gender and sexuality," Shaw writes. "This year, the state legislature is considering bills that would prohibit gender-affirming care for trans youth, impose fines on establishments that host 'sexually oriented' drag performances when children are present, and ban classroom teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity. . . . Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, the Denton rodeo had a clandestine air. . . . . Nearly everyone I spoke with in Denton had no idea that the rodeo was happening, or even that there was such a thing as a gay rodeo. . . . Partly a response to the unsettling political atmosphere in Texas, where drag events regularly meet with belligerent protesters."

The rodeo is open to all walks of life. "Wade Earp, a longtime TGRA participant (and a direct descendant of Wyatt Earp's brother Virgil), said that he's been happy to see the growing number of allies who come to gay rodeos as participants and spectators," Shaw adds. "In part, that's due to Wade's recruitment efforts. . . . A few years ago, he met some straight female bull riders at the Fort Worth stockyards, who told him, 'The men won't let us ride,' and Wade responded by saying, 'Come to the gay rodeo!'. . . . A half-dozen showed up at the next event, and soon they started bringing friends."