Gay Rodeo Returns to Ogden
50 Years of Goat Dressing, Wild Drag, and Breaking Barriers
NEWS
Roan Nickels, traveling from Texas to compete at the gay rodeo in Ogden this year, rides at the Women’s Ranch Bronc School taught by Brittany Miller in Texas, in April. Photo by Matthew Treptow Photography
The Utah Gay Rodeo Association (UGRA) presents the Crossroads of the West Regional Rodeo (CWRR) in Ogden this weekend, June 20-22, at the Golden Spike Arena. This marks the third gay rodeo in Utah since UGRA’s return in 2023 after a 19-year hiatus. Two full days of rodeo start at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, with vendors, concessions (including beer), Naomi’s Kitchen food truck, and entertainment.
Gay rodeos challenge traditional Western and rodeo gender norms, create an inclusive space, and bolster a sense of community for LGBTQ+ individuals. As Willie Nelson sang in 2006, “cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other” and “inside every lady, there’s a deep manly voice loud and clear.” The Gay Rodeo, with a little help from artists like Orville Peck, has been breaking barriers for nearly 50 years.
The first gay rodeo was held in 1976 in Reno, Nevada, evolving into the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA), a 501(c)(3) that now consists of regional Gay Rodeo Associations from across the United States and Canada, which raise and donate to their local LGBTQ+ communities. The Utah Gay Rodeo Association (originally the Golden Spike Gay Rodeo Association), started with a group of local country-western gay folks in 1979. It became part of the IGRA in 1989, and the first UGRA rodeo was in June 2000. It dissolved in 2006 for lack of interest, according to the UGRA website.
In 2016, a group of locals sought to bring the UGRA back and invited Kevin Hillman to join. “I was all for it,” he said. Hillman, now assistant director of the CWRR was involved in the Utah gay rodeo since its first go-round in the early 1980s.
“One thing unique about gay rodeo is men and women compete in every event, so there is no discrimination,” Hillman said. “We don’t care how you identify: gay, straight, pan, whatever… everyone is welcome to compete.”
Hillman and CWRR director Jared Schroeder said there seems to be more interest this year. Both were on-site during the phone interview on Thursday, as people arrived from across the country – including Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and Canada – livestock came in, and hay unloaded. Around 75 competitors are registered in 13 events this year, about 25 percent from outside Utah.
The events include Team Roping, Calf Roping on Foot, Steer Riding, Ranch Saddle Bronc Riding, Bull Riding, Wild Drag, Goat Dressing, Barrel Racing, among others.
Hillman got involved in 1982 after attending line dancing lessons at a bar in Salt Lake City. That night, he met some guys who were headed to the International Gay Rodeo in Reno (the only gay rodeo at the time) and decided to go. “It was huge and fun,” he said. In 1989 he attended the IGRA finals rodeo and “got hooked.” He’s been involved since, and until two years ago competed in many of the gay rodeo events including Goat Dressing, Steer Decorating, Wild Drag, and Chute Dogging.
Unlike traditional rodeos, women are a big part of the gay rodeo. The top bull rider in the IGRA circuit is Linda Peterson – from Utah – who held the highest score of any competitor until someone tied with her last year. Women bull riders are competing at the CWRR in Ogden this year.
Roan Nickels is traveling from San Angelo, Texas to Ogden, Utah, this weekend to participate in the Ranch Bronc competition. It’s her first time in Utah, but her first rodeo was in the IGRA circuit in 2022. Like many roughstock events, the bucking horse is “very gendered,” she said. “You don’t see women riding it outside certain circles.”
Nickels found the IGRA looking for opportunities to compete. “I wanted to ride bucking horses and wasn’t sure how to get involved as a woman.” She wasn’t looking for a gay space because she didn’t think they existed. “I was six pages deep on Google during COVID and I found the gay rodeo association. With surprise, she thought, “This is something that speaks to my identity on so many levels. I had no idea there were other people like me.”
Roan Nickels, at the 2023 Texas Tradition Rodeo in 2023. Photo by her “Rodeo Pappy” Gordon Satterly
Since her first rodeo, Nickels has made Texas every year, except for 2023, and Missouri last year. Through the gay rodeo, she’s found other spaces for women in the industry, like Brittany Miller’s ladies-only ranch bronc school. “I wouldn’t be in any of these spaces if it wasn’t for the gay rodeo,” she said.
Nickels is helping to raise funds for the gay rodeo with a focus on keeping ranch bronc riding alive in the circuit and making it more accessible for women.
Local Ogdenite Robbie Harrison-Garcia has competed in the circuit for years, traveling to gay rodeos in Arizona, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Colorado. When asked why there is a need for gay rodeos, he said they exist because gay people are not widely accepted in other rodeo circuits. “Being a registered sport, traditional rodeos can turn me/us away if they have an issue with LGBTQ+ people,” he said.
Ogdenite Robbie Harrison-Garcia competes in the Denver gay rodeo. Date unknown. Photo provided
Harrison-Garcia is competing in the Calf Roping on Foot, Steer Deco, Wild Drag, Goat Dressing, and Chute Dogging in Ogden this weekend. He said contestants have two attempts, one each day. Their combined score from both days will determine winners of buckles, ribbons, or at least points that go towards finals.
Robbie Harrison-Garcia at the Denver gay rodeo. Date unknown. Photo provided
Attendees will also have a chance to compete in the crowd-favorite Community Goat Dressing, an event special to the gay rodeo. It’s a two-person race to put “tighty-whities” on a goat.
The Wild Drag is another audience-favorite competition in the gay rodeo. The team is one cowboy, one cowgirl, one drag (any gender), and a wild steer. Together, they must get the steer across the finish line, mount the drag, and then ride back across the finish line without getting bucked off.
“I think the one thing that is really great about our organization is that there are serious competitors and then there are those who do it just for fun,” Hillman said. “It gives people who never grew up around the western lifestyle or rodeo an opportunity to have the chance to get in the dirt and work around animals.” There’s something for everyone to do outside of competing, he added, like fundraising and working with the community.
For Schroeder, it’s having a sense of family.” “They’ll do anything for you,” he said.
Following the rodeo on Sunday, an awards dinner will be held at the Outlaw Saloon in West Haven, with country dancing and a live performance from the Saliva Sisters.
The Saliva Sisters are a parody band that’s been around since the early 1970s with hits including “Stairway to Nordstroms” and “Do You Know Your Way to Utah.” Hillman said they opened or closed the Utah Arts Festival for probably 20 years, and write songs for the gay community.
Organizers encourage support for the Utah Gay Rodeo Association so it can give back to the community and make the gay rodeo in Ogden a long-standing tradition.
The Crossroads of the West Regional Rodeo is Saturday and Sunday, June 21-22, at the Weber County Fairgrounds, Golden Spike Arena, at 1000 North 1200 West, in Ogden, Utah. Information and tickets are available at utahgayrodeo.com.