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If what Spamgirl says is true about "Brian Helander", this is him:



Thirteen years ago, Brian Helander attended his first gay rodeo. He got so hooked that today he finds himself president of the International Gay Rodeo Association, and will be at the Sunshine Stampede Rodeo April 7-9 in Davie, Fla.


WHEN BRIAN HELANDER WENT to a gay rodeo in his hometown of Phoenix thirteen years ago, he was captivated.

"It looked like everybody was having so much fun," Helander recalls. "All the events were so active, and looked so complex."

An acquaintance of Helander's showed the same interest, and both men joined the International Gay Rodeo Association as rodeo partners.

Now, Helander is not only a top competitor, he also president of the IGRA.

THE FIST KNOWN GAY RODEO was held in 1976, by Phil Ragsdale, as a fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

The location was Reno, Nevada, and though the first year the spectators were reportedly few, Ragsdale continued planning an annual gay rodeo during the following years.

By 1984, both the Texas Gay Rodeo Association and the California Gay Rodeo Association had formed. In 1985 the International Gay Rodeo Association came into existence, and now there are state chapters all across the country.

Next week's Sunshine Stampede Rodeo marks the first time for a gay rodeo to be held in Florida. The event is being put on by the Florida Gay Rodeo Association, and will attract participants from across the country.

AMONG THE PARTICIPANTS looking forward to competing in the rodeo are gay "cowboy" Helander, and Minneapolis resident and "cowgirl" April Kane.

Kane estimates that roughly twenty percent of the participants at the gay rodeos are female. In the gay rodeos, women are able to participate in all the events that men do, whereas in the straight rodeos women are not aloud to do the rougher events, such as riding bulls or broncos, she says. Instead they are regulated to the speed events, such as barrel racing.

Kane did not grow up on a ranch or a farm. Instead, her childhood was quite the opposite: she was raised in Manhattan.

But in her present home of Minneapolis, Kane became immersed in the country music scene, going out weekly for gay two-stepping. Through country dancing, she met some of the people involved in the gay rodeo circuit.

Kane says she doesn't spend a lot of time practicing for the rodeo events. Instead, she says, she just gets out there and goes for it.

Kane's home rodeo association in Minnesota is known as North Star. There are about 100 members in her chapter, but the number of members who actually travel to compete is only about 10, she says.

"Some of the events are very hard to practice," Kane says. "So a lot of times you just do them at the rodeo and that's it. The event I do practice is calf roping."

HELANDER SAYS AFTER EXPLORING the rodeo, he found he has a natural ability for many of the events.

Though he has participated in barrel racing, pole bending, flag racing, calf roping and team roping, he says he is particularly drawn to the steer events.

But what Helander loves most about the rodeo, he says, is the familial atmosphere.

"I think the most appealing aspect is that you develop a real sense of family with your rodeo partners," Helander explains.

Helander says that participants take on a n unusual supportive and competitive mode that is unique to the gay rodeo circuit.

"You are competing against them, but at the same time you are rooting for them. You want them to succeed, to get better, to catch the calf, to win that barrel race."

Though Helander has a life partner, his partner doesn't compete.

"He enjoys watching me and he'll come and sit and watch me compete for eight hours," Helander says. "But he has no interest in being a competitor."

And watching a loved one compete is no joke. Rodeo is a dangerous sport, with a high chance of getting hurt. Helander has suffered from broken bones, including a broken shoulder. At times the sport can even be fatal. The last time someone lost his or her life at the gay rodeo while in competition was six years ago, in steer riding, Helander says.

Perhaps that is why the sport has a sexy edge. It is a tough thing to be doing. It involves a certain amount of risk and gusto, which tend to be attractive traits.

Both Kane and Helander say they have seen a rise in interest in rodeos since the release of "Brokeback Mountain."

But for this cowboy and cowgirl, and their many friends, gay rodeo is not a fad. It's part of their lives.