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Posted Feb 23, 2015, 3:07 AM
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ARTchitecture
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Cala Ghearraidh
Posts: 22,842
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To be fair, they did just load this new format to the website about a month ago, I'm sure there are still kinks being worked out(such as the text colouring which I thought was the worst issue). I don't know if anyone on the ARGRA board even noticed it or thinks it's a problem that they don't have "It's a Gay Rodeo" on the front page, it's just something people know. I certainly wouldn't say they've shunned their past identity. Anyone who talks about it, including friends of mine on the board, still refer to it as "the gay rodeo" and that's how the population of Strathmore seems to know it too. Everyone who goes knows what it is through advertisement and word of mouth, it's an event created by gays as an alternative to the mainstream rodeo scene 25 years ago and is the biggest gay rodeo association left in the world.
Why on Earth would same sex kissing, holding hands, or anything of the sort become frowned upon just because we've reached a point in history that things are now able to be integrated? Out of the thousands of people who come to rodeo, there has always been hundreds of straight people alongside us. Hell, the rodeo grounds are attached to a family campground. It's just something they neglected to put on the front page of their site, that's pretty much it, it's not something that needs to be over-analysed. I'm one of the bar tenders there and the straight men don't mind if I serve them drinks shirtless, they know where they are and they're there for a reason 
Here are a couple of articles that talk about the rodeo and it's history...
Long in the shadows, Strathmore’s gay rodeo bringing pride to rural Alberta
GRACE SCOTT | CALGARY HERALD | 06.24.2014
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In the picturesque prairie fields outside of Strathmore, the Canadian Rockies International Rodeo and Music Festival offers all the western ambiance one would expect from an authentic rodeo, complete with cowboys, country music, hay bales and horses. As Canada’s largest gay rodeo however, this event is western with a twist, including female competitors in all its events and a highly entertaining competition called the Wild Drag Race.
Running June 27 to 29, the Canadian Rockies International is one of Alberta’s lesser known treasures and a huge draw for the rural LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning) community. “As soon as you walk on site, I don’t want to say you’re in a bubble of rainbows and unicorns, but you sort of are in the sense of being able to be yourself,” says Jason Baker, president of the Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo Association, which has been hosting the rodeo since 1993.
Initially a small, secluded event, the rodeo has grown to be one of the largest gay rodeos in the North American circuit, expecting more than 4,000 people to pass through the grounds this year. In a province known for its social conservatism, the rodeo’s expanding public face reflects how far Alberta has come in its acceptance and support of the LGBTQ community. “My first rodeo was in 2001 and there were people announcing, ‘Please don’t take pictures of this competitor,’” Baker says. “People wouldn’t use their real names. If you had a camera, then there would be people that would actually walk up to you and say, ‘You can’t take pictures.’”
Now publicly advertised and corporately sponsored, Baker sees the rodeo as a huge chance to reach out and give back to Alberta’s gay community by creating a safe space of inclusion. While the social climate for gays and lesbians has improved, coming out can still be a hard experience no matter where you’re from. “Let’s be honest, it’s those kids that are out in the farms and out in those small towns that don’t have the access (to support),” he says. “Those are the ones that are killing themselves or hurting themselves, and that just breaks our hearts, because we look at them and we see us.”
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Full story: http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/...057/story.html
'We’ve got Bud Light as a sponsor': Canada's once-secretive gay rodeo shows signs of change in cattle country
Jen Gerson | The National Post | June 29, 2014
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Mr. Baker said he grew up in Hannah, Alta. Population 2,500. In the days before the Internet, he felt he was the only gay kid in the world.
“Throughout the year, we spend time reaching out to kids. That was us. We were stuck there in those small towns,” he said. “It’s scary. It’s really scary, so we try to reach out to them too because it’s those country kids that really need the help … we can say if you like horses, you like rodeo? Well you can still be yourself and still do that, too.”
The proud-and-out culture prevalent in more urban areas is sometimes a bit too much for people accustomed to ranches and small towns. Gay rodeo gives them an opportunity to meet like-minded people that’s a bit sheltered from the over-the-top machismo associated with cowboy culture.
“Rodeo has remained that way,” said Janie Van Santen, a long-time competitor. “It’s a rough-and-tumble sport. There’s a lot of testosterone in it.”
So much, in fact, that women are typically not allowed to compete in any event except barrel racing.
Big ticket items like calf roping, bull riding, and chuckwagon races are confined to men. The gay rodeo is one of the few exceptions: It lets everybody compete in everything, gay or straight. Man or woman.
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Full story: http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06...attle-country/
Janie and Jason are a couple of friends of mine, so these articles make me really happy 
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That is awesome! A couple of my friends just went on the Bearracuda Heretic Cuise too, they had a blast. Did you meet a couple by the names of Daniel and Franco (from Calgary) by any chance? 
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