Best of KC 2024: All-encompassing wrangling rodeo bulls over inequality
Photo by Chase Castor
Earlier this month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can take a peek at the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some local people, places, and things that we thought clearly won 2024. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November.
While LGBTQ+ equality and inclusivity can always be more widespread, barriers continue to be knocked down this year, making Kansas Citians an easy winner for being downright good human beings. Missouri’s All-Inclusive Show-Me State Rodeo brought boots and bucks to the metro in May of this year, where members of the community made their way to Hale Arena for a weekend full of Western tradition. Only this time, everyone is invited.
What started out as a speakeasy-esque event for misunderstood and misrepresented individuals in 1986 has now spiraled into a well-circulated spectacle where all feel welcome. The weekend consisted of everything that a traditional rodeo would offer—calf roping on foot, breakaway roping, team roping, pole bending, steer decorating, steer riding, ranch saddle bronc, chute dogging, goat dressing, barrel racing, flag racing, wild drag race, and bull riding.
Each year, the Missouri Gay Rodeo Association makes strides to bust down walls that have excluded LGBTQ+ individuals from partaking in Western rodeo culture. Participants and attendees come from around the country, proving that the notion of equality in this way of life is something that is still a battle for many, and can be found within the International Gay Rodeo Association.
Yes, there is still plenty of room to grow for the organization and LGBTQ+ inclusivity as a whole, but it is safe to say that this annual Western throwdown marks one step closer to becoming the new normal and is ultimately a win for the city. While the fight for equality may seem like a never-ending bucking bull, it’s going to take a whole lot more to knock this group of Western and Southern folk off the wagon.
