Palm Springs is an LGBT Mecca, known for mid-century style and Hollywood glamour. Yet, from Friday, May 1 through Sunday, May 3, the Palm Springs Hot Rodeo and Country Fair is all about highlighting the city’s Western flair.
The annual rodeo festival, produced by the Greater Palm Springs Chapter of the Golden State Gay Rodeo Association (GSGRA), offers a full weekend of dancing, drinking, pool parties, contests and real country flair. Yes boys and girls, there’s an actual rodeo, too, complete with horses, steers, bulls, goats and gays.
A 501(c) 3 nonprofit, GSGRA’s Greater Palm Springs Chapter (GPSC) consists of “men and women promoting western lifestyle and rodeo.” Founded in January 2000, the organization’s membership has ebbed and flowed. Today, the group has 56 “official” members, the highest in its history.