photo: www.igra.com

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Cowboys

Take Me Away

Gay Rodeo Will Rope and Ride in Akron During Gay Games 9

by Erin McCalla

Pull out your cowboy boots and buckle up those Wrangler jeans. The gay rodeo is coming to Akron on Aug 11-12.

The International Gay Rodeo Association has teamed up with the Gay Games 9 to bring the gay rodeo to the Games for the first time.

The main way the gay rodeo is different from any straight rodeo organization is that it allows and encourages cowgirls to compete in all 13 events, just the same as the cowboys. This includes the dangerous crowd favorite, bull riding.

The IGRA started as small, charitable event to fight Muscular Dystrophy in 1976. Currently, it puts on 14 to 20 rodeos all over the United States and Canada each year.

There are four categories of events that range from riding to roping to dressing and decorating.

racing. A good, quick horse is preferred, if not necessary, for these events.

And since the "gay boys and girls have to put their spin on it," said IGRA's spokesman, Brian Helander, there are three camp events as well.

Goat-dressing, steer-decorating and a wild drag race are three offbeat events that you'll find only at the gay rodeo. Wild drag racing is quite different from the drag race we've come to know from RuPaul. Basically, a cowboy or cowgirl in "scag drag" has to mount and ride a steer with the help of his or her two teammates.

Helander has been involved with the gay rodeo for 20 years and currently competes in nine of the 13 events.

"The camp events are not always as easy as they sound, and they are very, very competitive," he said.

These events are so competitive that Helander wanted to remind all other competitors that he and rodeo partner Chuck Browning are the current world record-holders in goat dressing, a team event where you put a pair of whiteytighties on a goat.

The rough stock events include the aforementioned bulland steer-riding (steers are basically smaller bulls that have been castrated), bareback bronc-riding (get your mind out of the gutter, fellas) and chute-dogging. Chutedogging is when a contestant wrestles a steer But Helander didn't grow up a cowboy. to the ground after leading it out of the chute and across a white line.

Roping events can take place on foot like the calf-roping or on a horse for mounted breakaway roping and team roping.

The three "speed events" are all riding events that pit contestants against the clock. They include barrel-racing, role-bending and flag22 august 2014

"I wasn't very athletic, but I liked being around animals," the Colorado resident said. After attending his first gay rodeo, he went out and got a horse and now, after a lot of practice, he is a "top notch" cowboy on the circuit.

Janine Pardee, a structural engineer from Orlando, got her start with the gay rodeo in a similar way in 2011. She attended a gay rodeo

and then immediately participated in a rodeo school in conjunction with the IGRA.

"If you have an athletic bone in your body, you can do the rodeo school and try the calf-roping on foot. There's no danger of harm," she said. "If you can swing a rope in a circle above your above your head, you can do calf-roping. You can learn in an hour."

She still participates in the beginner events while she learns to ride horses. She'll compete in two events on foot chute-dogging and calf-roping and all three camp events at the gay rodeo in Akron.

And no rodeo would be complete without a hoedown hullabaloo. Throughout the rodeo events, spectators and competitors can take a break from the action and step into the saloon to watch Western entertainment like singers and rope spinners. They also can learn dances from instructors in case there are two left feet inside those cowboy boots.

On Sunday night, Aug 10, the saloon will turn into a dancehall from 8p to 1a. Admission to the dance is $10.

Friday, August 8

Rodeo Kickoff Party @ Adams Street Bar, 77 N Adams St, Akron, 44304; adamstreetbar.com: Meet rodeo officials and contestants with entertainment provided by IGRA Royalty. 8p; $5

Saturday, August 9

Contestant Registration @ Clarion Inn & Conference Center, 6625 Dean Memorial Parkway, Hudson, 44236.

August 10-11

Gay Rodeo @ Summit County Fairgrounds, 800 North Ave, Tallmadge, 44278; gaygamesrodeo.org: A day of 13 events including bull and steer riding, calf roping and barrel racing. 8a; $15.

Entertainment @ Charlie's Dance Hall & Saloon, 800 North Ave, Tallmadge, 44278; gaygamesrodeo.org: Musicians Will Rogers, The Solands, Steff Mahan, Tina Bergmann and Bryan Thomas will perform. 11a-4p; free with rodeo admission.

Sunday, Aug 10

Western Roundup @ Charlie's Dance Hall & Saloon, 800 North Ave, Tallmadge, 44278; welcom-gaygamesrodeo.org: Country line and couples dancing with music provided by a DJ. 8p-1a; $10.

The gay rodeo and dance is open and ing to everyone even to straight contestants. Helander estimates that 15 percent of the competitors are straight allies.

Maybe Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings were wrong? It sounds like mamas should let their babies grow up to be cowboys (and cowgirls) after all.

"The rodeo is joyful," Pardee said. "Everyone should be interested; it's so darn American."

Monday, Aug 11

Rodeo Award Ceremony @ Charlie's Dance Hall & Saloon, 800 North Ave, Tallmadge, 44278; gaygamesrodeo.org: 8p.

After Rodeo Party @ Charlie's Dance Hall & Saloon, 800 North Ave, Tallmadge, 44278; gaygamesrodeo.org: 9:30p-midnight.

Check out gayrodeohistory.org for pics and archives dating back to 1979 by Cowboy Frank!

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