Texas gay rodeo association
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Bulls and steers
Alexis says he competes in roughstock, which means he wrangles bulls and steers. The other person then puts them on the goat, all the way up over the tail.”
TGRA recently updated its bylaws on goat dressing.
He takes out his phone and shows me a video of himself trying to finagle a pair of underwear on a goat named Fat Granny.
“At the end of the year, if the rodeo is profitable and everything, that money goes back to the cities where it was raised.”
Edlin is serving his third, two-year term as TGRA president.
Participants do not have to be LGBTQIA+ to participate. “I’ll do whatever you want, sweetheart,” he says. They trained bird dogs and used horses to go with the dogs.
“I absolutely had this passion for horses,” she says.
Membership participation in TGRA activities, while not mandatory, is appreciated. How one gauges the interest level of a goat is a trade secret.
“That’s one of the events that kind of sets us apart from the normal rodeos and makes us the gay rodeo,” Chicken Nugget says.
Two men emerge from the shadows of a horse barn.
Over the weekend in Denton, the North Texas Fair and Rodeo hosted a groundbreaking event—a gay rodeo show that drew crowds from all over the state. “The judge blows the whistle. Tim Smith, the organization’s president, says many competitors felt safer performing under aliases. In addition, TGRA as a statewide organization currently holds an Annual Rodeo, which all chapters get an opportunity to host.
One facet of our many activities is Royalty, where candidates vie for the title of Mr., Miss, Ms.
and MsTer TGRA. He puts it on in a slow, dramatic manner, like he’s on stage at a cabaret.
“Ah, the pretty girls,” says Candy Pratt, International Gay Rodeo Association hall-of-famer. These ambassadors host fundraisers for TGRA during their candidacy and reign. Chapters sprouted up across Texas over the years, and currently there are five chapters located in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio.
In 2000, TGRA started a Spring Rodeo held in Fort Worth or Dallas each March.
There are many committees within each chapter that exist to meet the wide-range of challenges in hosting rodeos and maintaining a focused charitable concern. They’re prepping for A Texas Tradition, the annual gay rodeo held May 24 to 26 in neighboring Denton.
The auburn-haired cowboy goes by Alexis, although his real name is Philip Blakesley.
Tickets cost $10 at the gate. TGRA is a member of the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA), which governs all sanctioned rodeos. Boogie’s real name is Marcus Hood; he’s the TGRA president. “Men, women, fathers and sons and daughters will compete together.” The Texas Gay Rodeo Association has donated just short of $3 million to charity over its 33 years, primarily to nonprofits that support people with HIV/AIDS.
Smith, who is 61 and owns a flower shop in Garland, doesn’t hesitate when I ask how being a gay cowboy has changed over his lifetime.
The pageant part of the event is one of the things that set the Gay Rodeo apart from the regular rodeo. In booty shorts and a tank top.”
“With the makeup still on your face,” Chicken Nugget adds.
This year he and Alexis are running for Mr. and Miss TGRA, respectively—it’s the Miss America of the gay rodeo world.
His long list of accomplishments includes winning the “All-Around Cowboy” title multiple times, several event belt buckles, and royalty titles for TGRA and the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA).
“I think that a lot of people don’t picture the two together, ‘gay’ and ‘rodeo,’” said Earp.