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Watch: Ride 'Em, Cowboy! Gay Rodeo Comes to Little Rock, Arkansas

Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.

"Move 'em on, head 'em up!" The gay rodeo is coming to Little Rock, Arkansas, with a "wild drag race" and a contest to get underwear on a goat part of the festivities, along with the more typical bull and bronc riding.

Billed as "the only gay rodeo in Arkansas," Rodeo in the Rock, as the event is called, will take place this weekend, April 27 and 28, and is sponsored by the Diamond State Rodeo Association, which will "host the competition at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock," local news staton ABC 7 reported.

"Everyone thinks this is a normal rodeo: no," DSRA President Sany Bidwell told the news channel. "This is a gay rodeo, but it has everything that a real rodeo has from bull riding, steer riding, chute dogging."

But when the gay rodeo comest to town you can bet it will be extra.

"We have two special things," Bidwell noted, "and that is putting underwear on a goat" – called "Goat Dressing" in the rodeo's official description of events –  "and tying a bow ribbon on a steer's tail while somebody tries to hold it" – which the events descriptions page calls "Steer Decorating."

But let's not overlook the pièce de résistance: The "Wild Drag Race."

"The drag costumes come from 'Goodwill' stores, from second-hand stores, and many from raiding mom's closet," noted the description.

The event involves herding a steer 70 feet to where the person in drag jumps onto its back and holds on for dear life in hopes of staying mounted until the steer crosses the finish line.

"Sounds easy," the event description says, "but the 'drag' may get bucked off several times before the event is ever completed!"

Spectators can do more than just watch the action. "Professionals in the rodeo industry will be at the fairgrounds on Friday from 9:30 to 3 p.m. to give lessons to anyone 18 or older on calf roping, steer riding and flag racing," ABC 7 said.


by Kilian Melloy , EDGE Staff Reporter

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.

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