rob@ptsfa.UUCP (Rob Bernardo) (10/19/84)
Anybody on the net going to Houston for the Texas Gay Rodeo in November?
--
Rob Bernardo, Pacific Bell, San Francisco, California
{ihnp4,ucbvax,cbosgd,decwrl,amd70,fortune,zehntel}!dual!ptsfa!pbauae!robrob@ptsfa.UUCP (Rob Bernardo) (10/25/84)
Some of you have requested info on the upcoming Texas Gay Rodeo
which I mentioned in earlier news in net.motss. Here is what I
know:
This is the first rodeo to be put on by the 1 year old (I think)
Texas Gay Rodeo Association.
Place: Round-up Rodeo Grounds in Simonton, Texas, (a suburb of Houston)
The grounds are very nice, I hear.
When: Friday, November 2nd through Sunday, November 4.
Schedule of events (as best as I can recall off hand):
Friday 6pm - barbeque
9pm - barn dance with live entertainment including
Stella Parton (Dolly's sis).
Saturday noon? - rodeo events
evening - guided tour of the Houston bars
Sunday 1pm? - rodeo events
evening - rodeo awards ceremony/party/etc.
At the Reno Gay Rodeo this last July I met some nice people from that
area of the country (OK, TX, etc) who were very definitely planning on
being there, so, I think, it promises to be a fun event.
There is a travel agent who is making package deals, but they sounded
incredibly expensive: e.g. tickets to rodeo events, shuttle bus to
Houston bars, plus three nights in a very nearby hotel ranged from
$300+ for single occupancy to $200 per person for quadruple occupancy.
What I and a friend have done is rented a car and made reservation in
a Motel 6 (which is located between Houston and Simonton), and spending
a lot less money.
I don't remember the name or number of the travel agency, HOWEVER,
the Texas Gay Rodeo Assoc. is listed with Directory Assistance in
Houston under 'TGRA'. Their office seems to be staffed many hours
of the day (I have not had trouble getting a hold of them), and they
have all the info you'll need, including the name of the travel agent.
I'd like to hear from anyone who's planning on going.
--
Rob Bernardo, Pacific Bell, San Francisco, California
{ihnp4,ucbvax,cbosgd,decwrl,amd70,fortune,zehntel}!dual!ptsfa!pbauae!robrob@ptsfa.UUCP (Rob Bernardo) (11/20/84)
The first Texas Gay Rodeo, held in Simonton, TX ("near" Houston) November
2-4, was quite a success.
It was much smaller than the National Reno Gay Rodeo, maybe about 500
spectators (compared to several thousand in Reno, but then the Reno
Gay Rodeo has been a well-known 9 year tradition). About the same number
of contestants - several tens. It was incredibly well organized and well
run, putting the Reno Gay Rodeo to shame. I hung out with several people
from the Colorado group, who said that was because they helped organize
the Texas Gay Rodeo. If so, the success of it is much to their credit!
The rodeo was held in indoor rodeo grounds (The Roundup) in Simonton,
about 40-50 miles west of Houston, out in the boonies.
The people who run the Roundup were surprisingly natural with the
all-gay crowd. The announcer and the bull-ride clown, who were part
of the Roundup team, and straight to boot, fit in PERFECTLY with the
gay event. For those of you who've never been to a rodeo, the clown
and the announcer engage in a lot of ribbing and joking between events
and rides. In this case, there were two clowns from the Texas Gay
Rodeo Assocation, as well, dressed in sort of drag-like rodeo clown
outfits. And so a lot of the ribbing between the clowns and announcers
was specifically tuned to the gay audience without being the sort of
gay self-putdown humor that you might expect. So it was amazing that
the straight announcer and clown did their job so well.
I heard that the reason why the rodeo was held so far out of Houston
was that the TGRA could not find a rodeo arena closer in that would
have a gay rodeo.
There was one thing I did not like, though. And I would like the opinion
of others on this.
The weekend began with a party Friday evening, with the usual announcements,
speeches, etc. A Lesbian minister gave an invocation.
Now being of Jewish ethnical background and of atheistic belief,
I probably could have grinned and beared it if the invocation merely gave
thanks to a god, but no, this was the Bible Belt.
The minister told us to bow our heads and her invocation was
specifically Christian, mentioning Lord Jeeeesus Chraaaahst; in fact
the friend I was with said it was in a style particular to some or other
Protestant sect. My blood boiled. Afterwards I went up the minister and
told her, "I felt alienated and excluded by your prayer. There are
people here who are not Christian. There are people here who are not
Judeo-Christian. There are people here who don't believe in God. This
event is for gay people in general, not just gay Christians, and it
makes me feel unwelcome here for you to give a religious prayer, and
a Christian one at that."
Her response was to hold my hand, and to smile and look directly into
my eyes in a way that came accross to me as that condescending Christian love
and say, "My intention here is to bring people together, not to
drive them apart ..."
I walked back to my friend muttering half tongue-in-cheek and half with
blood still boiling,
"Those goddam Christians have to turn everything into a Christian event.
Why can't they just keep their religion in their church where it belongs ..."
Now, I realize that the offensiveness of the invocation was not intended,
and that the Bible Belt is so overtly Christian that a Christian brought
up there may be blind to the offensiveness a such a prayer. But that is
no reason for putting up with such behavior. This seems to me to be
similar to "heterosexism" -- when heterosexuals act with an "innocent" (i.e.
non-beligerent) assumption that everyone is heterosexual.
I would like other's opinions of this.
--
Rob Bernardo, Pacific Bell, San Francisco, California
{ihnp4,ucbvax,cbosgd,decwrl,amd70,fortune,zehntel}!dual!ptsfa!pbauae!robrob@ptsfb.UUCP (Rob Bernardo) (11/19/85)
This past weekend (Nov 15-17), the second annual Texas Gay Rodeo was held in Houston, and my friend Mark and I went. This was likely the largest of the gay rodeos with over 100 contestants; they usually draw about 30-40. Most were from Texas and Colorado, but many others came from Arizona, Oklahoma, California, and a few, I am sure from, half a dozen other Western states. The number of spectators was up quite a bit from last year: the facilities were much closer to central Houston than last year and I suspect there was better advertizing. From the perspective of a contestant, this was the best of the gay rodeos I've attended. Events were traditional rodeo events, e.g. bull-riding, team roping, and camp events, e.g. wild cow milking, steer decorating, as well as horse events, e.g. barrel racing and Texas flag racing. Mark and I entered two of the camp team events: steer decorating (capturing a steer and tying a ribbon on its tail) and goat dressing (capturing a goat and putting jockey shorts on it). We got a fourth place prize for the steer decorating on Saturday. Over $25,000 was awarded in prizes (as purse for each place in each event each day, and a buckle to the number 1 contestant/team for the weekend in each event, as well as purse and a buckle for the All-around Cowboy and the All-around Cowgirl). The evenings were filled with barn dances and a lot of partying. Each time I go to a rodeo, I get to know more and more of the other contestants. Mark commented that the gay rodeos are becoming like reunions (for the contestants, that is), except that there are several in a year. The recently formed Oklahoma Gay Rodeo Association is the fifth state-wide organization to join the International Gay Rodeo Association, and like the others, will be producing a rodeo next year. Here is the "circuit": Jan 17-19 Arizona Gay Rodeo Phoenix Mar 21-23 California Gay Rodeo Los Angeles May 30-June 1 Colorado Gay Rodeo Denver Aug 1-3 Oklahoma Gay Rodeo Oklahoma City Sept/Oct (TBA) International Gay Rodeo Finals Las Vegas Nov Texas Gay Rodeo Dallas There is likely to be a finals rodeo in Las Vegas, so that the yearly circuit will run from November of one year (being with the Texas Gay Rodeo) and ending with the finals rodeo the following October. If you want information on any of these, send me e-mail, and I will put you in touch with the appropriate organization. BTW, does anyone out there in netland enjoy the gay rodeo news items I've posted???? Newsgroups: net.motss