Arts & Entertainment

Gay Rodeo Art Exhibit In St. Pete Bursts Cowboy Stereotypes

The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art is the last venue for the national "Gay Rodeo" tour, and the exhibit shows tough diversity.

By Skyla Luckey, Patch Staff

Sep 4, 2020 10:27 am ET | Updated Sep 4, 2020 11:08 am ET

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Imagine a drag queen wrangling a bull, and a cowboy couple dancing after they both competed in the rodeo. Has your stereotype of rodeos as something strictly for straight, tough womanizing men burst yet?

Gay rodeos have been around for quite a while, and were officially established in 1985 through The International Gay Rodeo Association that serves the United States and Canada. ... Its visual history and narrative is captured in the "Blake Little Photographs From The Gay Rodeo" exhibit that opens on Saturday at The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art.

"The James Museum is thrilled to host this special exhibition that celebrates diversity in the American West," Emily Kapes, curator of art, told Patch. "The gay rodeo is a sport that not everybody's heard of before, and we really want to bring attention to it. And it's still going on today."

Blake Little, the photographer and a California native, stumbled upon the gay rodeo in 1988 when he and a friend attended one in Burbank, California. ... "We were hooked immediately by the whole scene: watching it, imagining that these guys were really doing this, and they were gay," Little said.

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The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on Tuesdays from 10 a.m to 8 p.m.

For more information about the museum and photography, visit The James Museum website.