International Gay Rodeo Association Institutional Archives, 1982-2024

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Summary

Creators:
International Gay Rodeo Association
Abstract:
The International Gay Rodeo Association Insitutional Archives consist of administrative records, memorabilia, posters, publications, and clothing from 1982-2022. Most of the materials are regarding the planning, production, and reviews of regional chapter rodeos as well as the final rodeo for the International Gay Rodeo Association.
Extent:
59 Linear Feet (100 boxes; 3 oversized portfolios)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

International Gay Rodeo Association Institutional Archives, 1982-2024, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.26; [folder number][folder title][date].

Background

Scope and content:

The collection largely consists of administrative records and documents that relate to the operations and functions of the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA), especially rodeos produced by member associations of IGRA. Administrative records include correspondence, financial records, meeting notes, committee reports, by-laws and handbooks, press clippings, photographs, and event planning files. Some administrative records in the collection were created by the Comstock Gay Rodeo Association in relation to the production of the National Reno Gay Rodeo, which pre-dates IGRA.

Also included in the IGRA Institutional Archives are rodeo materials consisting of publications, ephemera, promotional material, and memorabilia such as posters, programs, and clothing. There are also awards given and received by IGRA, including an IGRA belt buckle.

This is an open collection that may periodically be updated with new materials.

Biographical / historical:

The International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) is an umbrella organization currently comprising of 15 regional member associations in the United States and Canada. IGRA is responsible for establishing and enforcing standardized rodeo rules for sanctioned events produced by member associations, in addition to certifying rodeo officials. IGRA is run by the Board of Directors; an executive board consisting of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, trustee chairperson, and two additional trustees, all elected at the annual meeting of trustees; the Board of Trustees, consisting of elected representatives from each member association; and committees chaired by presidential appointees and generally supported by representatives from member associations. Committees, trustees, and members of each board convene at the annual IGRA Convention, hosted by a different member association each year. From 2000 to 2017, IGRA also produced the annual IGRA University, designed to train members in organizational management, rodeo operations, and responsibilities of rodeo royalty. IGRA University was revived in January 2024.

IGRA was founded in 1985 but had its genesis ten years earlier in Reno, Nevada. In March 1975, the emergent Imperial Court of Reno, a community organization dedicated to fundraising for LGBTQ+ causes, crowned Phil Ragsdale the "Silver Dollar Emperor," tasking him with a year of planning fundraisers, organizing gay communities, and championing LGBTQ+ inclusion. Ragsdale came up with the idea of producing a rodeo to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). Although he encountered local resistance to a gay rodeo and struggled to find either a stock contractor or a venue who would work with him, Ragsdale successfully hosted the first National Reno Gay Rodeo in October of 1976 at the Washoe County Fairgrounds. The National Reno Gay Rodeo would continue to grow over the next nine years under the banner of the Comstock Gay Rodeo Association. They reached their peak at the last National Reno Gay Rodeo in 1984, raising tens of thousands of dollars for MDA and the AIDS Foundation and attracting over 10,000 visitors. That year, the Internal Revenue Service shut down the Comstock Gay Rodeo Association, citing financial discrepancies.

The popularity of the National Reno Gay Rodeo inspired attempts to establish gay rodeos outside of Nevada. By the last National Reno Gay Rodeo in 1984, the newly formed Colorado Gay Rodeo Association (CGRA) and Texas Gay Rodeo Association (TGRA) had already produced their own rodeos, and California's Golden State Gay Rodeo Association (GSGRA) and the Arizona Gay Rodeo Association (AGRA) had begun planning gay rodeos in their states. Born of an interest in sharing resources and standardizing rules for gay rodeo, the four associations worked together to formally incorporate the International Gay Rodeo Association in 1985. Within two years, IGRA had expanded to include member associations in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and New Mexico. While the number of sanctioned rodeos and member associations has fluctuated throughout the years, IGRA reached a peak in 1995 with 22 rodeos spanning the United States and Canada.

IGRA-sanctioned rodeos consist of rough stock events, roping events, speed events, and "camp" events. Generally, rough stock events include bull riding, bronc riding, steer riding, and chute dogging; roping events include calf roping on foot, mounted breakaway roping, and team roping; speed (horsemanship) events include barrel racing, pole bending, and flag racing; and camp events, unique to gay rodeo and designed to be inclusive of new participants in competitive rodeo, include steer decorating, wild drag racing, and goat dressing. Each solo rough stock, roping, and speed event is divided into men's and women's categories; transgender and nonbinary participants are invited to compete in either category based on self-identification. Unlike other rodeo associations, IGRA's rough stock events are open to women competitors, leading to the participation of many cisgender and heterosexual women in gay rodeos. The IGRA rodeo season spanned November through October until 2004, when the season changed to follow the calendar year. The season culminates in the World Gay Rodeo Finals, which up until 2009 was named the IGRA Finals Rodeo.

In addition to competitive rodeo events, IGRA-sanctioned rodeos feature country western dances (competitive and social), a rodeo royalty competition/pageant (including Mr., Ms., Miss, and MsTer categories), and a Grand Entry parade led by a grand marshal, typically an activist, artist, community organizer, politician, or business owner honored for their contributions to the local LGBTQ+ community. Member associations, chapters of those member associations, and IGRA each produce rodeo royalty competitions; winners and runners-up of those competitions serve a year-long term as fundraiser organizers and representatives to other LGBTQ+ communities and external organizations. Supplementing the rodeos, which were themselves fundraisers, royalty-produced events would also raise money for local nonprofit organizations or other groups serving LGBTQ+ and other under-resourced communities. As the AIDS epidemic spread in the early 1990s with little intervention from United States federal, state, or municipal governments, IGRA's fundraising efforts increasingly supported community-led HIV/AIDS service initiatives and research foundations.

In 2009, IGRA leadership established the Gay & Lesbian Rodeo Heritage Foundation (GLRHF) to promote the history of gay rodeo, offer grants to member associations and rodeo participants, and maintain the IGRA archives. GLRHF maintains a digital archive of IGRA materials at gayrodeohistory.org, a website first developed by Frank Harrell, a member of the Atlantic States Gay Rodeo Association. GLRHF documents the operations of IGRA and its member associations as they continue to produce gay rodeos and connect LGBTQ+ communities across the United States and Canada.

Acquisition information:
Original donation by the International Gay Rodeo Association, 2009 September 9. Subsequent additions have been made as this is an open collection, and IGRA's archivist, Roger Bergmann continues to deposit material.
Processing information:

Original inventory completed by Stephanie Kowalick. Historical research and some processing performed by Cody White. Additional processing and cataloging done by Holly Rose Larson, Project Archivist, funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) in 2011. Processing, cataloging, and digitization of California-related materials from series 2-4 was completed in 2023-2024 by Andrea Decker and Ezra Loeb, Metadata Assistants, funded by a "Preservation and Accessibility of California's LGBTQ+ History" grant from the California State Library.

Arrangement:

  • Series 1: Administrative files, 1982-2009
  • Series 2: Clothing, memorabilia, and other materials, 1982-2009
  • Series 3: Posters, 1983-2005
  • Series 4: Publications, 1982-2022
    • Subseries 1: Programs, 1982-2022
    • Subseries 2: Newsletters, 1985-2005
    • Subseries 3: Magazines

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

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.

Terms of access:

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 Library and Archives at the Autry. 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.

Preferred citation:

International Gay Rodeo Association Institutional Archives, 1982-2024, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.26; [folder number][folder title][date].

Location of this collection:
4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, CA 90027, US
Contact:
(747) 201-8448
rroom@theautry.org
Website