Long before queer sports had national leagues and corporate sponsors, the Reno Gay Rodeo helped carve out a place where LGBTQ cowboys, cowgirls, and everyone in between could compete, gather, and be fully themselves. What began in Nevada grew into one of the earliest anchors of what would become the International Gay Rodeo Association—part athletic competition, part community gathering, and a vital expression of rural queer identity long overlooked in mainstream culture.
The Reno rodeo proved something simple and radical: that country life and queer life weren’t opposites. People showed up to ride, rope, cheer, volunteer, and push back against the idea that the West belonged to only one kind of person. The result became a cornerstone of LGBTQ history in the American West.
