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WHEN
BRIAN
HELANDER
WENT
to
a
gay
rodeo
in
his
hometown
of
Phoenix
thirteen
years
ago,
he
was
captivated.
"It
looked
like
everybody
was
having
so
much
fun,"
Helander
recalls.
"All
the
events
were
so
active,
and
looked
so
complex."
An
acquaintance
of
Helander’s
showed
the
same
interest,
and
both
men
joined
the
International
Gay
Rodeo
Association
as
rodeo
partners.
Now,
Helander
is
not
only
a
top
competitor,
he
also
president
of
the
IGRA.
THE
FIST
KNOWN
GAY
RODEO
was
held
in
1976,
by
Phil
Ragsdale,
as
a
fundraiser
for
the
Muscular
Dystrophy
Association.
The
location
was
Reno,
Nevada,
and
though
the
first
year
the
spectators
were
reportedly
few,
Ragsdale
continued
planning
an
annual
gay
rodeo
during
the
following
years.
By
1984,
both
the
Texas
Gay
Rodeo
Association
and
the
California
Gay
Rodeo
Association
had
formed.
In
1985
the
International
Gay
Rodeo
Association
came
into
existence,
and
now
there
are
state
chapters
all
across
the
country.
Next
week’s
Sunshine
Stampede
Rodeo
marks
the
first
time
for
a
gay
rodeo
to
be
held
in
Florida.
The
event
is
being
put
on
by
the
Florida
Gay
Rodeo
Association,
and
will
attract
participants
from
across
the
country.
AMONG
THE
PARTICIPANTS
looking
forward
to
competing
in
the
rodeo
are
gay
"cowboy"
Helander,
and
Minneapolis
resident
and
"cowgirl"
April
Kane.
Kane
estimates
that
roughly
twenty
percent
of
the
participants
at
the
gay
rodeos
are
female.
In
the
gay
rodeos,
women
are
able
to
participate
in
all
the
events
that
men
do,
whereas
in
the
straight
rodeos
women
are
not
aloud
to
do
the
rougher
events,
such
as
riding
bulls
or
broncos,
she
says.
Instead
they
are
regulated
to
the
speed
events,
such
as
barrel
racing.
Kane
did
not
grow
up
on
a
ranch
or
a
farm.
Instead,
her
childhood
was
quite
the
opposite:
she
was
raised
in
Manhattan.
But
in
her
present
home
of
Minneapolis,
Kane
became
immersed
in
the
country
music
scene,
going
out
weekly
for
gay
two-stepping.
Through
country
dancing,
she
met
some
of
the
people
involved
in
the
gay
rodeo
circuit.
Kane
says
she
doesn’t
spend
a
lot
of
time
practicing
for
the
rodeo
events.
Instead,
she
says,
she
just
gets
out
there
and
goes
for
it.
Kane’s
home
rodeo
association
in
Minnesota
is
known
as
North
Star.
There
are
about
100
members
in
her
chapter,
but
the
number
of
members
who
actually
travel
to
compete
is
only
about
10,
she
says.
 |
| There
is
a
definite
sex
appeal
to
the
cowboy
phenomenon,
and
gay
and
lesbian
rodeo
regulars
say
interest
in
the
sport
has
risen
since
the
release
of
the
film,
‘Brokeback
Mountain.’
(Photo
by
BubbaClicks.com) |
"Some
of
the
events
are
very
hard
to
practice,"
Kane
says.
"So
a
lot
of
times
you
just
do
them
at
the
rodeo
and
that’s
it.
The
event
I
do
practice
is
calf
roping."
HELANDER
SAYS
AFTER
EXPLORING
the
rodeo,
he
found
he
has
a
natural
ability
for
many
of
the
events.
Though
he
has
participated
in
barrel
racing,
pole
bending,
flag
racing,
calf
roping
and
team
roping,
he
says
he
is
particularly
drawn
to
the
steer
events.
But
what
Helander
loves
most
about
the
rodeo,
he
says,
is
the
familial
atmosphere.
"I
think
the
most
appealing
aspect
is
that
you
develop
a
real
sense
of
family
with
your
rodeo
partners,"
Helander
explains.
Helander
says
that
participants
take
on
a
n
unusual
supportive
and
competitive
mode
that
is
unique
to
the
gay
rodeo
circuit.
"You
are
competing
against
them,
but
at
the
same
time
you
are
rooting
for
them.
You
want
them
to
succeed,
to
get
better,
to
catch
the
calf,
to
win
that
barrel
race."
Though
Helander
has
a
life
partner,
his
partner
doesn’t
compete.
"He
enjoys
watching
me
and
he’ll
come
and
sit
and
watch
me
compete
for
eight
hours,"
Helander
says.
"But
he
has
no
interest
in
being
a
competitor."
And
watching
a
loved
one
compete
is
no
joke.
Rodeo
is
a
dangerous
sport,
with
a
high
chance
of
getting
hurt.
Helander
has
suffered
from
broken
bones,
including
a
broken
shoulder.
At
times
the
sport
can
even
be
fatal.
The
last
time
someone
lost
his
or
her
life
at
the
gay
rodeo
while
in
competition
was
six
years
ago,
in
steer
riding,
Helander
says.
Perhaps
that
is
why
the
sport
has
a
sexy
edge.
It
is
a
tough
thing
to
be
doing.
It
involves
a
certain
amount
of
risk
...
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| 
Thirteen years ago, Brian Helander attended his first gay rodeo. He got so hooked that today he finds himself president of the International Gay Rodeo Association, and will be at the Sunshine Stampede Rodeo April 7-9 in Davie, Fla." border="1">
