L.A. bans rodeos, becoming the latest city to limit or prohibit the shows; rodeo supporters call it an attack on their culture

Supporters of rodeos rally outside Los Angeles City Hall.
(Photo by Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times)

Despite the role of rodeos in much of California's rural Western culture, certain show practices paired with documented animal injuries led the city of Los Angeles to ban rodeos, report Susanne Rust and Dakota Smith of the L.A. Times. "The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to ban rodeos in the city despite opposition by some in L.A.'s Latino equestrian community, who painted the crackdown as an attack on their culture. . . . Councilmember Bob Blumenfield led the council in passing the ban, describing in graphic detail the broken bones and pain endured by rodeo animals."

The ban carved out exceptions intended to "assuage concerns that the ban would prevent cultural events such as charrería, which is popular in Mexico, as well as the Bill Pickett Rodeo, a national event for Black riders scheduled for February in the City of Industry," Rust and Smith write. "More than 100 people signed up to speak in council chambers before the vote, many wearing cowboy hats and boots."

L.A. is one of many cities that have taken a deeper look at rodeo shows. "Other jurisdictions throughout the state and nation have put limits on or banned rodeos, including San Francisco, San Juan Capistrano and Pasadena, as well as Pittsburgh, Penn.; Baltimore County, Md.; Leesburg, Va.; and Fort Wayne, Ind.," the L.A. Times reports. "In response to concerns that a ban would be akin to an attack on Latino culture, Blumenfield said, 'This is not about culture. This is about animal cruelty. There are Black rodeos. There are Latino rodeos. There are gay rodeos. . . nobody is trying to go after a culture. We're saying that animal cruelty is something that we, in 2023, should not be supporting,' he said."

"Longtime equestrian Geronimo Bugarin said there are nine elements of charrería, including bull riding, mare riding and calf roping, and appeared dismayed at the prospect of not being able to continue those activities," Rust and Smith add. He said: "If we lose one of our key elements of charrería, it's like you don't have a charrería."