ARVADA, Colo. — It’s often hard to imagine the magnitude of the work put in by the trailblazers before our time, like the cowboys decades ago who just wanted to compete while being true to themselves.
“It’s really, really cool once you look back at the history,” said Jordan Roberts with the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association. “They were arrested just for showing up to the gay rodeo.”
It happened in Reno, Nevada, in 1975.
“Cops got wind that there was a gay rodeo taking place at the Reno Fairgrounds out there and they locked the gates and as people showed with their horses and horse trailers. They said, ‘Sorry, we can’t have your kind here,’” said Kade Hiller with the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association. “And they put handcuffs on them and took them downtown.”
“Seeking a spot to do the rodeo and they were turned down as soon as they found out it was a gay rodeo,” Roberts said. “That just kind of proves how far we’ve come.”
How far we’ve come in a little more than four decades.
GALLERY | Gay Rodeo Programs Through the Years
To view rodeo programs fullscreen on your computer or phone, click here
“The Colorado Gay Rodeo Association was founded in 1981. We had our first rodeo in 1983,” Hiller said.
As Hiller explains, Colorado has always been a pioneer state in that regard. It is now home to the longest-running gay rodeo in the world.
“We will celebrate the 41st Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo here this July,” Hiller said.
While the Mile High City expects nearly half a million people to attend this year’s 50th annual Denver PrideFest in June, the lesser-known Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo will celebrate its 41st year in Denver with a three-day event July 12-14.
And what might surprise you is the level of competition and the diversity of the events.
“Rough stock riding, bull riding, horseback riding – all of that good jazz,” Hiller said.
“I think gay people come in all different shapes and sizes,” Roberts said. “I’m 6’8”. I might be the tallest gay cowboy in Denver.”
From traditional rodeo events like roping to more non-traditional events like goat dressing and wild drag races, the gay rodeo has it all.
“That’s a team of three,” Hiller said. “So, you have a boy, a girl and a 'drag.' The drag just has to wear a wig and a dress. That team of three has to get a steer across the line 40 feet from the shoot, and then once that steer crosses the line, the drag has to hop on the back of the steer, and the steer has to recross the line and that ends the time for the timed event.”
While barrel racing men are a featured attraction, this diverse rodeo is open to all genders, skill levels, and sexualities—like Miss Jackie.
“She’s as straight as the day is long as they say,” Hiller said.
“This is Rooster,” said Jackie Kemp of her horse. “She’s a female mare horse. And she loves the rodeo.”
Kemp has won the gay rodeo’s all-around cowgirl title too many times to count.
“I’ve always been really fond of diverse groups,” Kemp said. “It’s just kind of fun that gay and rodeo go together.”
“That’s what we’re here to show folks,” Hiller said. “Come out and see us at the Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo, see the men bull ride, see the ladies that we allow bull ride, see the men barrel race, see us get out there and compete and actually do a sport.”
For the first time this year, the Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo will take place at the Events Center at the National Western Complex.
“This is a venue that can hold around 7,000 people,” Roberts said. “The Events Center at the National Western complex has been nothing but gracious.”
It's a far cry from the shadowy beginnings of gay rodeos of years past.
“Had I known about this association as a younger kid, it would have been something to aspire to,” Hiller said. “I’m happy to find an association like the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association that accepts me for who I am.”
“I think that’s what gay people have been doing all their lives,” Roberts said. “Showing up and supporting each other and invoking a sense of community, why not do that at a rodeo? It’s so cool. It’s so epic.”
Country music artist Dixon Dallas will headline Friday night’s kick-off festivities on July 12, followed by rodeo events on Saturday, July 13, and Sunday, July 14. Click here for tickets.
VIDEO | See these awesome vintage program covers from Colorado’s gay rodeo through the years
