In 1988, photographer Blake Little attended his first gay rodeo. His interest was piqued immediately, and he started participating, both as a contestant and as a photographer. He spent the next four years taking black and white photos. Starting December 15, photos from his time with the gay rodeo will be on display at the High Desert Museum.
The traveling exhibit, “Blake Little: Photos from the Gay Rodeo” features 41 black and white photos Little took between 1988 and 1992. The exhibit is curated by Johanna Blume, assistant curator of Western art at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, from which the exhibit is on loan.
“This exhibit highlights a space where people can belong, and where they can figure out who they are as an individual and in their community. We wanted to show how significant these types of spaces are—where LGBTQ people in rural spaces could find and forge meaningful connections.” — LAURA FERGUSON
The exhibit includes a variety of photos, including everything from portraits that look like the stereotypical cowboy, to action shots of riders desperately clinging to the back of a leaping bull. Because Little was also a participant, his photos allow viewers to get a behind-the-scenes look at the rodeos as they walk through the exhibit, said Laura Ferguson, curator of Western History at the High Desert Museum.
Some of the cowboys in the photos are still riding; others have retired and some have passed away. One cowboy, Jerry Hubbard, featured in several photos, was one of the best cowboys in almost every event in which he competed in, Little said. Hubbard passed away in the mid ’90s.
“We are always looking to tell a wide range of stories, and this exhibit seemed interesting and exciting,” Ferguson said. “It pushes people to examine their stereotypes and it challenges them to think more broadly.”
While gay cowboys are not a new thing, it was something that many cowboys, especially those in rural communities, felt they needed to keep hush-hush. Some might have kept it secret from everyone in their community.
There were some gay rodeos as early as 1976, and in 1985 the International Gay Rodeo Association was formed.
“This exhibit highlights a space where people can belong, and where they can figure out who they are as an individual and in their community,” Ferguson said. “We wanted to show how significant these types of spaces are—where LGBTQ people in rural spaces could find and forge meaningful connections.”
Ferguson hopes this exhibit will show Central Oregon residents something they might not typically think about.
“This exhibit will push us to think more broadly about what it means to call the west home,” she said. “It’s why we were so excited to bring the exhibit to the museum.”
Context will make a big difference for the visitor. If visitors don’t know these photos are from the gay rodeo, one might think a photo of two cowboys in Stetsons and leather chaps is simply featuring a couple of competitors. Knowing the photos are from the gay rodeo give them a more complex meaning.
States the press release from the High Desert Museum: “Little’s photographs don’t just depict his individual past experiences with the rodeo, they celebrate the lives of rodeo participants and illustrate the collective memory of a vibrant community whose story is part of the Western experience.”
This article appears in Dec 13-20, 2017.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT – As a gay man, I find the mere idea of a “Gay Rodeo” more than sad. Have we learned so little from our own long history of oppression? Rodeo is an inherently-cruel macho exercise in DOMINATION. There are major connections to be made with the sexual harassment of women now dominating the news.
Consider this quote from an 18-year-old Oregon Rodeo Queen: “What me and my rodeo friends really hate are Democrats, environmentalists and gays.” One can easily guess whom they voted for. (–in the book, “Rodeo Queens and the American Dream,” by Prof. Joan Burbick)
And this gem, from a Wyoming steer wrestler: “Women should not rodeo any more than men can have babies. Women were put on earth to reproduce, and are close to animals. Women’s liberation is on an equal to gay liberation–they are both ridiculous.” (–in the book, “Rodeo: An Anthropologist Looks at the Wild and the Tame,” by Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence, U. of Tennessee Press, 1982)
Gay folks are notoriously creative. Surely we can come up with a more compassionate, life-affirming entertainment than rodeo. For most of the animals unwillingly involved, rodeo is merely a detour en route to the slaughterhouse. They (and we) deserve better.
Season’s Greetings, Peace on Earth to All Creatures.
Sincerely,
Eric Mills, coordinator
ACTION FOR ANIMALS
Oakland
Any self-respecting person should be appalled by the rodeo – gay or straight. Gay rodeo rules do not protect animals from abuse animals are still kicked, roped, spurred and dragged to the ground by their heads (called chute dogging).
As a community that has fought long to overcome violence, humiliation and prejudice, is the violent rodeo really worthy of support? Promoting rodeo events and other cruel animal acts sends the dangerous message that entertainment based on suffering and ridicule is not only condoned, but encouraged. Cruelty should be condemnedin all its forms.
All rodeo involves horrible violence to animals. No one who is working toward a more compassionate and just world should have anything to do with it.
While I sympathize with the views expressed in prior comments, it’s still good to see the diversity of the LGBTQ community represented through this exhibit. I plan to attend, if only to see a view of the world that lies outside my own day to day experience.
I am an active supporter of the LGBTQ community, but I do not support rodeos because they are cruel to animals.