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International Gay Rodeo Association Institutional Archives
MSA.26
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Contributing Institution:
Library and Archives at the Autry
Title: International Gay Rodeo Association Institutional Archives
Creator:
International Gay Rodeo Association
Identifier/Call Number: MSA.26
Physical Description:
59 Linear Feet
(100 boxes; 3 oversized portfolios)
Date (inclusive): 1982-2024
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.
Language of Material:
English
.
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.
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.
- 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
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.
International Gay Rodeo Association Institutional Archives, 1982-2024, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.26; [folder number][folder title][date].
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.
Golden State Gay Rodeo Association Institutional Archives, 1985-2022, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.72
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.
Patricia Nell Warren's "Grand Marshal" sash and neckerchief, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; 2010.12.13 and
2010.12.14
Scott Terry clothing, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; 2015.1 and 2015.10.1
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.
Issues of
RoundUp: The Gay and Lesbian Western and Rodeo Magazine (issues 1-3 & 5-11),
Western Styles February 1995, and
The Journal of Country Music vol. 21 no. 1 were added to the Autry Library collection.
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
By-laws
Receipts (financial records)
Correspondence
Reno (Nev.) -- History
Posters
Photographs
Clippings
Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Belt buckles
Clothing and dress
Programs
Gay rodeos -- Nevada -- Reno
Gay rodeos -- Colorado
Gay rodeos -- Texas
Gay rodeos -- California
Gay rodeos -- New Mexico
Gay rodeos -- Canada
Gay rodeos
Rodeos
Gay rodeos -- Arizona
Gay rodeos -- Oklahoma
Gay rodeos -- Kansas
Gay rodeos -- Missouri
Drag performance
Gay bars
LGBTQ+
LGBTQ+ -- History
Country-Western dance
Periodicals
Rodeo royalty
Ragsdale, Phil