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International Gay Rodeo Association

Sport	Rodeo
Founded	1985; 40 years ago (1985)
Countries	United States
Most recent champion(s)
Official website	Igra.com

TheInternational Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA), founded in 1985,^[1] is the sanctioning body for gayrodeos held throughout the United States and Canada. They are the largest group coordinating rodeo events specifically welcominglesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender (LGBT) as well asheterosexual participants and spectators. IGRA is composed of many regional gay rodeo associations, and sanctions a season of rodeo events which culminates in an annual World Gay Rodeo Finals. IGRA events are intended to allow all competitors, regardless ofsexual andgender identity, to compete inrodeo sports withoutdiscrimination. The organization helps spread appreciation for Western culture and the sport of rodeo, while serving as a fundraising vehicle benefiting many charitable organizations.^[2]

Competitors compete for prize money and the title of All AroundCowboy and Cowgirl at each rodeo. The winners of each event receive trophy buckles designed by the hosting association. At season's end the contestants with the highest points in each event receive invitations to the World Gay Rodeo Finals presented by IGRA. The event was renamed in 2009 from the previous "International Gay Rodeo Finals" moniker it held from its onset inHayward, California.

The original intent of these rodeos was fundraising, and while highly competitive and structured rodeos still serve the primary purpose of being fundraisers. The money raised at the rodeo is donated to the designated charities of each association. In total IGRA and all the associated associations have donated to furthering the individual causes of all charities that are benefactors of rodeo funds.

In 2010, the IGRA archives dating from 1975 were deposited in the library collection of theAutry National Center inGriffith Park,Los Angeles, which also houses theMuseum of the American West.^[3][4]

Source:^[5]

The first gay rodeo was held as a charity fundraising event at the Washoe County Fairgrounds inReno, Nevada on October 2, 1976.^[6] The organizer, Phil Ragsdale, a member of theImperial Court System, was the Court Emperor of Reno. In time, he came to be regarded as the "Father of Gay Rodeo."

Ragsdale came up with the idea of a holding a rodeo to raise money for the local Thanksgiving Day food drive for senior citizens. Over 125 people took part in the first rodeo, and the winners were crowned King of the Cowboys, Queen of the Cowgirls, and Miss Dusty Spurs (drag queen).^[6] The National Reno Gay Rodeo title was officially created in 1977, when he founded the Comstock Gay Rodeo Association. Following the Imperial courts' lead Ragsdale added the "Mr., Ms., and Miss National Reno Gay Rodeo" titles to aid in the fund raising that was to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. These titles still exist today but have been recognized as Mr., Ms., Miss, MsTer, and Mx. International Gay Rodeo Association since the IGRA replaced the old National Reno format.

By 1984, the ninth and final National Reno Gay Rodeo brought out over 10,000 people to the rodeo grounds. The demise of the National Reno Rodeos is credited by the IRS as a dispute between the Gay Rodeo and the Washoe County Fairgrounds and the Sands Hotel. The rodeo books were also alleged to have been seized by the IRS.

History has recorded 14 gay rodeos (9 Reno rodeos, 3 Colorado rodeos, 1 Texas rodeo, and 1 California rodeo) prior to the formation of the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA). The IGRA became truly international in 1993 when the Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo Association from Canada joined.

In September 1985 with 10 years of rodeo history behind it, gay rodeo associations from Colorado, Texas, California, and Arizona gathered in Denver, Colorado to form an organization to standardize the rules of Gay Rodeo. As a result, the International Gay Rodeo Association was created with Colorado, Texas, California, and Arizona as founding member associations. These four associations seated the Oklahoma Gay Rodeo Association at its first convention held in the same year. The newly formed association elected Wayne Jakino from Colorado as its first President.

In 1987, IGRA's first International Finals Rodeo was held in Hayward, California. The name was changed to the World Gay Rodeo Finals in 2009.

The 2014 documentary filmQueens & Cowboys follows the story of cowboy Wade Earp and others who compete in the IGRA. Earp discusses how he does not compete in rodeos outside IGRA because, "There's still a lot of homophobia. As progressive as we think the world's gotten, there's so much we have to conquer."^[7] On November 9, 2014,CNN aired an episode ofThis Is Life with Lisa Ling that covered the Zia Regional Rodeo inSanta Fe, New Mexico, including profiles of several cowboys and cowgirls that are active on the IGRA circuit.^[8]

A list of presidents, royalty, conventions, and finals since IGRA was founded in 1985:^[9][10]

• Note: In 1988, "A contract with a private ranch sixty miles east of Reno was made void when the local homophobic District Attorney filed an injunction two days before the rodeo in order to stop the event. Two days in court as well as a trip to the Nevada Supreme Court failed to overturn the injunction," according to the IGRA website. As a result, no finals were held that year.^[6]

Like all traditional rodeos, IGRA rodeos also sponsor an annual royalty competition to determine the individuals who will comprise the IGRA Royalty Team. To qualify, contestants need to be the current titleholders or first runners-up of a Member Association. The five categories of royalty are Mr. (male that presents as male), Ms. (female that presents as female), Miss (male that presents as female), MsTer (female that presents as male), and Mx. (non-binary, non-gender conforming, or gender queer). Each category can award a Black Sash (title winner), Red Sash (1st runner-up), and White Sash (2nd runner-up) to be included in the team.

The MsTer title was created at the 2005 IGRA Convention but was not awarded until 2009. The Mx. title was created at the 2023 IGRA Convention and awarded the first Mx. IGRA in 2024, the first year the title was available.

A change to royalty competition rules in 2015 requires a contestant to compete in four of five categories. The five areas of competition are:

• Personal Interview - Mandatory
• Western wear modeling - Mandatory
• Public Presentation and On-Stage Question - Mandatory
• Horsemanship Skill - Required if not competing in Entertainment
• Public Entertainment - Required if not competing in Horsemanship

Animal rights organizations such asMercy for Animals,^[11] Showing Animals Respect & Kindness (SHARK),^[12]People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)^[13] and LGBT Compassion^[14] criticize Gay Rodeo for perceived cruelty to animals. In response to increased publicity given to critics of Gay Rodeo, IGRA published a press release stating that their animals are well-treated and handled in accordance with established ethical guidelines.^[15]

Rodeos under the IGRA umbrella previously were organized into four divisions (see map here^[16]) with more than two dozen regional associations. The following are current Member Associations of IGRA:

• AGRA - Arizona Gay Rodeo Association,Phoenix, founded 1984^[17]
  • includes the state of Arizona except for the southeastern counties covered by SGRA (see below)

• ASGRA - Atlantic States Gay Rodeo Association,Alexandria, Virginia, founded 1991^[18]
  • includes Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and metropolitan New York City

• CGRA - Colorado Gay Rodeo Association,Denver, founded 1981^[19]
• CRGRA - Canadian Rockies Gay Rodeo Association, Alberta, seated in 2018^[20]
• DSRA - Diamond State Rodeo Association,Little Rock, Arkansas^[21]

• GSGRA - Golden State Gay Rodeo Association,Long Beach, California, founded 1984^[22]
  • Bay Area Chapter,San Francisco^[23]
  • GreaterPalm Springs Chapter, founded 2000^[24]
  • San Diego Chapter, founded 2025
  • GreaterSan Diego Chapter, founded 1986, dissolved 2016^[25]
  • Los Angeles Chapter, original chapter dissolved 2007
  • Sacramento Chapter - split off to form SCCGRA (see below)
• ILGRA - Illinois Gay Rodeo Association,Chicago^[26]
• MIGRA - Michigan International Gay Rodeo Association,Dearborn, founded 1994^[27]
• MGRA - Missouri Gay Rodeo Association,Kansas City, Missouri, founded 1986^[28]
  • includes the state of Missouri other than those counties covered by GWGRA (see above)

• NGRA - Nevada Gay Rodeo Association,Las Vegas, founded 1992^[29]
• NMGRA - New Mexico Gay Rodeo Association,Albuquerque, New Mexico, founded 1984^[30]
• NSGRA -North Star Gay Rodeo Association,St. Paul, founded 1989^[31]
  • includes Minnesota and Wisconsin

• GPRA - Great Plains Rodeo Association (changed name from OGRA - Oklahoma Gay Rodeo Association in 2016^[32]),Oklahoma City, founded 1985^[33]
• RRRA - Red River Rodeo Association,Aubrey, Texas, founded 2003^[34]
  • includes several counties north of theDallas-Fort Worth Metroplex

• TGRA - Texas Gay Rodeo Association,Fort Worth, founded 1984^[35]
  • Austin Chapter^[36]
  • Dallas Chapter^[37]
  • Fort Worth Chapter^[38]
  • Houston Chapter^[39]
  • San Antonio Chapter^[40]
    • includes the state of Texas except for several north-central counties covered by RRRA (see above)
• UGRA - Utah Gay Rodeo Association, seated at 1989 IGRA Convention; dissolved 2006, formed again and seated at the 2022 IGRA Convention

The following rodeo associations were once affiliated with IGRA but became inactive, and dissolved or reorganized:^[41][42][43]

• Pacific Coast Gay Rodeo Association (California), loosely organized in 1980; replaced by Golden State Gay Rodeo Association in 1984
• Heartland Gay Rodeo Association (Nebraska and Iowa), seated at 1993 IGRA convention
• Cowboy State Rodeo Association (Wyoming), founded 1988, name changed the following year to Big Sky Gay Rodeo Association (Montana); dissolved 1998
• Oregon Gay Rodeo Association, seated at 1988 IGRA convention; replaced by Northwest Gay Rodeo Association in 1990
• Northwest Gay Rodeo Association (Washington, Oregon, and Idaho), seated at 1990 IGRA convention; reorganized as Pacific Northwest Gay Rodeo Association
• Tri-State Gay Rodeo Association (Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky), founded 1990, dissolved 1995
• Silver State Gay Rodeo Association (Nevada); reorganized as Nevada Gay Rodeo Association, 1992
• Pennsylvania Gay Rodeo Association seated at 1995 IGRA convention; name and coverage changed to PONY (Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York Gay Rodeo Association) in 1999; dissolved 2007
• FGRA - Florida Georgia Rodeo Association (Formerly Florida Gay Rodeo Association),St. Petersburg,^[44] dissolves 2017
• SRRA - Suwannee River Rodeo Association, Florida, seated at 2017 IGRA Convention, dissolves 2019
• ARGRA - Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo Association,Calgary, founded 1991,^[45] dissolved 2016
• CSGRA - Cotton States Gay Rodeo Association,Birmingham, founded 2012^[46]
• SGRA - Sonoran Gay Rodeo Association,Tucson, Arizona^[47]
• SCCGRA - Sacramento's Capital Crossroads Gay Rodeo Association,Sacramento, California,^[48] dissolved 2019
• KSGRA - Keystone State Gay Rodeo Association,Harrisburg, founded 2015,^[49] does not renew 2019
• LSGRA - Louisiana State Gay Rodeo Association,Bossier City, Pennsylvania,^[50] withdraws membership 2016.

Most associations host at least one annual rodeo. All associations must follow the rules of conduct as outlined in the IGRA Rodeo Rule Book, the first edition of which was published in 1985.^[51] These rules are often updated and ratified at season's end when delegates from each association gather at the IGRA annual convention. The purpose of the convention is to elect new officers, create new rules and bylaws, and seat new associations.

Each of the thirteen events has a set of rules that must be followed in order for contestants to score points and to qualify for the year end finals. Unlike in traditional rodeos, contestants are allowed to compete in all events regardless of sex. Buckles are awarded to the top male and female competitors in each event, as well as buckles for Rookie of the Year and for All-Around Cowboy and All-Around Cowgirl.

1. Bull riding
2. Steer riding
3. Chute dogging orsteer wrestling
4. Bareback bronc riding (this is an optional event)

1. Calf roping on foot
2. MountedBreakaway roping
3. Team roping

1. Barrel racing
2. Pole bending
3. Flag racing

1. Wild drag race
2. Goat dressing
3. Steer decorating

• IGRA Official Website
• Gay Rodeo History Archive - Created and managed by Cowboy Frank in conjunction with the IGRA Archives Committee
• IGRA Institutional Archives at the Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles
• Heartland Gay Rodeo Association Records at University of Nebraska Archives
• Voices of Gay Rodeo - Oral histories from the International Gay Rodeo Association

Articles and interviews:

• Paynter, Ben. "So You Wanna Be a Cowboy?"The Pitch (Kansas City), 20 October 2005 atarchive.today (archived 2013-02-01) lengthy interview with participants at an IGRA rodeo in Missouri
• "Out on the Range,"The Guardian, 25 November 2005 interviews with participants at an IGRA rodeo in Mesquite, Texas
• Ayers, Chris. "Homosexual on the range: rodeo where gay cowboys can ride high,"The Sunday Times, 14 January 2006
• Greenfield, Beth. "Gay Rodeos; Tightly Knit and Western-Loving,"The New York Times, 24 February 2006
• "Out of the chute and in the pit,"Gay and Lesbian Times, 10 September 2009 interview with gay rodeo officials in San Diego

• Rodeo organizations
• International LGBTQ sports organizations
• Recurring sporting events established in 1976
• Sports organizations established in 1985
• History of Hayward, California
• Culture of Hayward, California
• 1985 establishments in the United States

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