Finding Aid to the Golden State Gay Rodeo Association Archives MSA.72

Ezra Loeb

Library and Archives at the Autry

2024

210 South Victory Blvd.

Burbank, CA 91502

rroom@theautry.org

URL: https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives

Contributing Institution: Library and Archives at the Autry

Title: Golden State Gay Rodeo Association Archives

Identifier/Call Number: MSA.72

Physical Description: 3 Linear Feet (5 boxes)

Date (inclusive): 1985-2022

Language of Material: English .

Conditions Governing Access

Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives and fill out the Researcher Application Form. An item-level inventory is available from library staff.

Acquisition

Donated by the Golden State Gay Rodeo Association, 2022. This is an open collection that may periodically be updated with additional materials.

Arrangement

The records are arranged in four series, two of which have been further arranged in subseries.

Series 1: Golden State Gay Rodeo Association Files, 1985-2017

Subseries 1: Administrative files, 1991-2009
Subseries 2: Magazines, 2002-2014

Series 2: Newsletters, 1985-2007

Series 3: Clothing, 1993-2017

Series 4: Programs, pamphlets, and promotional materials of GSGRA Chapters

Subseries 1: Greater Los Angeles Chapter (GLAC), 1985-2008
Subseries 2: Greater San Diego Chapter, 1994-2006
Subseries 3: Desert Empire Chapter, 1993-1994
Subseries 4: Greater Palm Springs Chapter, 2001, 2008-2022
Subseries 5, Bay Area Chapter (BAC), 1998-2001

Administrative History

The Golden State Gay Rodeo Association (GSGRA) is a regional member association of the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) serving the state of California. Dedicated to the promotion of country western lifestyles and fundraising for community nonprofits and other service organizations (LGBTQ+ and otherwise), GSGRA has supported the production of gay rodeos, country western dances, and rodeo education workshops throughout the state. GSGRA's board includes three representatives (and up to two alternates) elected by each chapter, in addition to state-level officials elected by the general membership. State-level officials included a president, a vice president of administration, a vice president of rodeo operations, a treasurer, and a secretary; regional chapters had officials in the same roles to facilitate local activities and produce rodeos. The chapters represented in the Golden State Gay Rodeo Association (GSGRA) Institutional Archives include the Greater Los Angeles Chapter (GLAC), the Greater San Diego Chapter, the Bay Area Chapter (BAC), the Desert Empire Chapter, and the Greater Palm Springs Chapter. Three other chapters – the Central Sierra Chapter, the Capital Crossroads Chapter, and the Los Angeles Central Chapter – are minimally represented in the collection. Only the Bay Area Chapter and the Greater Palm Springs Chapter are still active, as of January 2024.

Founded in 1984 by Alfred F. Bell, David P. Watkins, Patrick J. McGrath, Eddie L. Cline, and Dennis White, GSGRA became a founding member association of IGRA in January 1985 alongside the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association (CGRA), Texas Gay Rodeo Association (TGRA), and Arizona Gay Rodeo Association (AGRA). In March 1985, the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, located in Burbank, CA, became the site of the first gay rodeo in California, the fourth state to ever host a gay rodeo. For further information about the history of gay rodeo, see the finding aid for the IGRA Institutional Archives and gayrodeohistory.org, a website maintained by the Gay & Lesbian Rodeo Heritage Foundation, an offshoot of IGRA.

The Greater Los Angeles Chapter (GLAC) was the founding chapter of GSGRA, producing the Los Angeles Rodeo between 1985 and 2008. Two rodeos – one in 2007 and one in 2014 – were planned but never held. Official meetings were held in both Los Angeles and Long Beach, and GLAC also produced social gatherings, fundraisers, educational workshops, and dances throughout Los Angeles County. GLAC hosted the 15th and 17th Annual IGRA Conventions and Dance Championships in 1999 and 2001, respectively. The chapter dissolved in 2014.

The Greater San Diego Chapter was founded in 1987, producing the San Diego Rodeo between 1989 and 2010. In addition to the rodeo, the Greater San Diego Chapter produced the annual Twist & Shout Country Western Dance Competition, among other social gatherings, fundraisers, and educational workshops, and hosted the 27th and 29th Annual IGRA Conventions in 2011 and 2013, respectively. The chapter dissolved circa 2014.

The Bay Area Chapter (BAC) was founded in 1987, producing the Bay Area Regional Rodeo between 1988 and 2001 and the "Best Buck in the Bay" Bay Area rodeo from 2002 to the present. BAC's first rodeo was the International Gay Rodeo Association's First Annual Finals Rodeo, held September 18-20, 1987, at the Rowell Ranch Rodeo Park in Hayward, California. In addition to the rodeo, BAC also produced the annual Kick Up Your Heels Country Western Dance Competition and Carnival West, among other social gatherings, fundraisers, and educational workshops.

The Desert Empire Chapter was founded in March 1992 to serve the Inland Empire region of Southern California. It produced the annual Palm Springs Regional Rodeo between 1993 and 1995, in addition to other social gatherings, fundraisers, and educational workshops. The chapter dissolved circa November 1997, but an attempt to re-form in January 2000 resulted in the formation of the Greater Palm Springs Chapter, officially seated in May 2000. The Greater Palm Springs Chapter's first rodeo was the 2001 International Gay Rodeo Association Finals Rodeo, and significant debt accrued from its production led to the cancellation of the 2002 Hot Rodeo. After several years of fiscal recovery, the chapter held its first Hot Rodeo at the A.C. Dysart Equestrian Center in Banning, California, in 2008. They continue to produce the Hot Rodeo annually.

The Central Sierra Chapter was founded in February or March of 1993. They held social gatherings and fundraisers to support the production of the Fresno Rodeo, but no rodeo ever materialized. The chapter dissolved circa November 1997 with the Desert Empire Chapter. GSGRA attempted to re-form the chapter in January 2000, but no organization resulted from these efforts.

The Los Angeles Central Chapter (LAC) was founded in February 1992 to serve Hollywood, West Hollywood, Burbank, Silverlake, and Pasadena Valleys. In addition to producing social gatherings, fundraisers, and educational workshops, LAC worked closely with GLAC to produce the Los Angeles Rodeo. LAC dissolved May 31, 1995, and many of its members ended up re-joining the Greater Los Angeles Chapter.

The Capital Crossroads Chapter was formed in June 1996 to serve the Sacramento area, producing the Sierra Stampede from 1999 to 2016. In March 2001, the chapter was suspended from GSGRA due to conflicts in the state-level and chapter-level by-laws. Although unsanctioned by IGRA or GSGRA, members of the former chapter continued to produce the Sierra Stampede between 2001 and 2006 under their new name, the Capital Crossroads Gay Rodeo Association (CCGRA). After years of negotiations between CCGRA, GSGRA, and IGRA, Sacramento's Capital Crossroads Gay Rodeo Association (SCCGRA) was seated as a member association of IGRA in 2007. SCCGRA dissolved in 2019.

In addition to producing rodeos, each regional chapter worked closely with other local LGBTQ+ organizations, particularly the courts of the International Imperial Court System, including International Imperial Court of Long Beach, Imperial Court of Los Angeles/Hollywood, Imperial Court of Orange County, Imperial Court of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, Royal Court de Santa Monica, CGNIE (Imperial Court of Sacramento), the Imperial Council of San Francisco, and the Imperial Court de San Diego; gay and lesbian bars, including Kickers (San Diego, CA), Hamburger Mary's (San Diego and West Hollywood, CA), Oil Can Harry's (Studio City, CA), Floyds Country Bar (Long Beach, CA), Marlena's (San Francisco, CA), The Hole (Point Loma, CA), The Bolt (Sacramento, CA), Faces (Sacramento, CA), Eagle (San Francisco, CA), and Tool Shed (Palm Springs, CA); the Levi, leather, and bear gay subcultural communities; other country western groups, including the New West Institute and Sundance Association for Country-Western Dancing; Pride event organizers, including Christopher Street West (Los Angeles, CA); lesbian and queer women's organizations, including Southern California Women for Understanding; and community aid groups and nonprofits, especially HIV/AIDS service organizations such as Shanti and PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support). Many people associated with these organizations, as well as other LGBTQ+ activists, were honored as grand marshals during each rodeo's Grand Entry, and GSGRA rodeos and other events served as fundraisers for community aid groups and nonprofits.

Preferred Citation

Golden State Gay Rodeo Association Archives, 1985-2022, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.72; [folder number][folder title][date].

Processing History

Original inventory provided by donor in 2019 and revised by Hunter Isenstein in 2023. Additional inventorying, processing, and cataloging by Andrea Decker and Ezra Loeb, Metadata Assistants, 2023-2024, made possible by "Preservation and Accessibility of California's LGBTQ+ History" grant from the California State Library.

Related Archival Materials

International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) Institutional Archives, 1982-2022, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.26.

Gay Rodeo Oral History Project Archive, 2016-2023, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.73.

Blake Little photographs, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; 2021.32.

Jim Wilke donations, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; 93.31 and 94.79.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of administrative records and documents related to the operations of GSGRA, including correspondence, financial records, meeting notes, member lists, by-laws and handbooks. It also includes non-GSGRA publications, select issues of LGBTQ+ newspapers and magazines collected by GSGRA containing articles about IGRA and GSGRA.

Additional materials are related to rodeos produced by GSGRA and its regional chapters, including programs, pamphlets, promotional materials, and clothing.

Regional chapters represented in the collection include the Greater Los Angeles Chapter (GLAC), Greater San Diego Chapter, Bay Area Chapter (BAC), the Desert Empire Chapter, and the Greater Palm Springs Chapter. Rodeos represented in the collection include the Los Angeles Rodeo, the San Diego Rodeo, the Bay Area Regional Rodeo and "Best Buck in the Bay" rodeos, the Palm Springs Regional Rodeo, Hot Rodeo, and the 2001 International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) Finals Rodeo. Minimally represented are the Central Sierra Chapter, the Los Angeles Central Chapter (LAC), and the Capital Crossroads Chapter (and its Sierra Stampede rodeo), which appear only in the newsletters.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Research Services and Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

By-laws

Clothing and dress

Correspondence

Gay rodeos

Gay rodeos -- California

Handbooks, manuals, etc.

Periodicals

Posters

Programs

Receipts (financial records)

Rodeos

Gay bars

Gay bars -- California

Gay rodeos -- California -- Burbank

Gay rodeos -- California -- Los Angeles

Gay rodeos -- California -- Indio

Gay rodeos -- California -- Palm Springs

Gay rodeos -- California -- Sacramento

Gay rodeos -- California -- Del Mar

Gay rodeos -- California -- San Diego

Gay rodeos -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area

Gay rodeos -- California -- La Honda

LGBTQ+

LGBTQ+ -- History

Rodeo royalty

Drag performance

Country-Western dance

AIDS Activists

International Gay Rodeo Association

box 1, box 5

Golden State Gay Rodeo Association Files MSA.72.1 1985-2017

Administrative Files MSA.72.1.1 1991-2009

Scope and Contents

Includes one rodeo entertainer application containing photographs and business cards.

GSGRA Membership Benefits Program

G.S.G.R.A. Membership Benefits Program Agreement undated

Scope and Contents

Single page form for businesses to fill out and become participants in the GSGRA Membership Benefits Program.

The Golden State Gay Rodeo Association Membership Benefits Program pamphlet

The Golden State Gay Rodeo Association Pamphlet 1996

Photocopied articles circa 1985

Scope and Contents

Two photocopies of "Little Horse Riders: Social Club of Gays on Horseback" and "Cindy, All Around Cowgirl, Sponsored by Printing Safari"

GSGRA INNERCIRCLE Newsletter 1998 November 7

Scope and Contents

Two copies of the inaugural monthly newsletter for the GSGRA Executive Board and State Board of Directors to improve communication between GSGRA and its chapters.

GSGRA Elected & Appointed State Officials Guide 1998-1999

Scope and Contents

Bound book with the names and contact information for the officers of GSGRA and each of the chapter associations.

GSGRA's IGRA Membership Application 1999

Scope and Contents