Week of May 15, 2025

From the editor’s desk

Pride Month is coming up. It’s officially June, to mark the Stonewall uprising, which occurred in June 1969. (For planning purposes however, note that some regions host pride fests later in the summer; Northern Nevada Pride is Sept. 6 this year, and a few cities in hotter climates host their celebrations in October and November.)

June is now also the month of the Heterosexual Awesomeness Festival in Boise, Idaho. Its second annual iteration is scheduled for June 20-21 in the park across the street from Idaho’s Capitol. I’m not going to give this event much air time, other than to mention that it comes packaged in all of the usual misinformation and illogic you’d expect, touted in the name of fighting for family values in god’s name. I’ll also say that if you’d like to see the organizer corner himself into a logical trap in his own words, professing love and practicing disdain, NBC News has got you covered.

Meanwhile, in Reno, plans have been announced for the World Gay Rodeo Finals at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Event Center Oct. 11-12, with related events starting Oct. 9. 

This is the 50th anniversary of the event, which began in Reno in 1976, ran here though 1984, and occurred locally a couple more times in the mid 2000s.

RN&R contributor Matt Bieker wrote last September: 

The rodeo’s success was transformative, drawing thousands of attendees annually despite facing violence, bigotry and resistance from conservative groups. This widespread popularity helped inspire similar events nationwide and eventually led to the founding of the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) in 1985, which unified gay rodeos under a single umbrella.

Can’t wait until fall to celebrate? If you can arrange a drive or a flight to Southern Nevada in short order, the Nevada Gay Rodeo Association’s BigHorn Rodeo is in Las Vegas next weekend, May 23-25, with pregame parties this weekend.

Take care,

—Kris Vagner, managing editor