When they left the ranch the first time.
Posted on 06/02/2002 1:51:44 PM PDT by jo6pac
There was a load of gay pride on display at the Utah State Fairpark on Saturday, but it had little to do with the saucy dress and behavior typical of some other gay celebrations.
In many ways, this weekend's annual Utah gay rodeo is about more than celebrating people for who they are, it is also a way to connect with who they used to be -- country kids raised with a rich appreciation for life in the rural West.
"As gay people, we tend to leave the rural areas and go to the cities, because that is where the gay people are, but eventually we want to go back to our heritage and roots," said Brian Helander, a nurse from Phoenix who grew up in rural Canada.
South Dakota native Dan Iversen said he was as surprised as anybody when he hopped back in the saddle more than a decade ago. The 47-year-old grew up on a South Dakota farm and said he hated almost everything about the lifestyle. He preferred motorcycles over horses, and says he could tolerate anything on the radio other than country music.
He moved to Phoenix after he came out of the closet in his early 20s, but said he eventually felt the tug of the open range, or at least the rodeo arena.
"That's me," he said.
Saturday's participants acknowledge the concept of gay rodeo probably draws snickers from those who live outside their world.
" People think [a gay rodeo] is a bunch of sissies trying not to be, and that's really not the case," said Helander.
From a seat in the rodeo stands, much of Saturday's event looked like any other small-time rodeo -- cowboys and cowgirls getting bucked from broncos and struggling to lasso the slippery steers and calves.
Cruel? Perhaps. Sissyish? Definitely no.
But this rodeo does have a dash of panache that distinguishes it from standard rodeos.
In addition to the classic roping events and bronco and bull riding, Saturday's schedule also made room for a couple of playful contests. The goat dressing event, for example, required two-person teams to dash 50 yards to a tethered goat, flip up its hind legs and strap a pair of bikini briefs on it.
The rodeo, which continues today, is part of a national circuit of San Diego to Cleveland. It is the third annual event for Utah. Attendance Saturday was sparse, but organizers blamed it on the menacing weather.
Even though nature did not cooperate, the cowboys Saturday said they were happy just to be outside.
"The bar scene, unfortunately, seems to be what the gay community [revolves] around," said 23-year-old Ogden native Brad Newey. "It's great to see Utah actually prove that we're opening and broadening our horizons."
Not everybody is enthusiastic to see a homosexual spin on what is otherwise a distinctly macho affair. Two years ago, gay rodeo organizers had to go out of state to find a company that would provide stock. It seemed state stock companies didn't like the idea of gay people rodeoing with their animals.
That isn't a problem now.
"What's the difference? Their money is green," stock provider Danny Clegg said of any company's reluctance to rent its animals to gay cowboys and cowgirls. "It's baffling for me, as tough as the rodeo business is."
Snickers?.....at least
And, I imagine, there was a load of something else in the bathroom stalls.
We heard about the goat-dressing; I wish we weren't kept in suspense about the other 'playful contests'.
I suppose one could speculate....
In other rodeos they have wild cow-milking contests; maybe these riders favored a bull-milking contest....
For instance. ;^)
When they left the ranch the first time.
A limp wristed cowbay named Fay
said, "This is a hell of a place to be gay."
"I must on the prairies,
with a great lack of fairies,
with the deer and the antelope play."
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