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#The cowboy denver gay bar archive#
GLBTQ Archive lists many films, books, and TV shows with either implications of or straight-up male attraction clearly these instances aren’t one-offs. Some Westerns even have overt homosexual themes. Any significant relationships they do have are with other men they often become extremely close to their sidekicks or partners, leading to a Batman-Robin bond between two swaggering dudes. They even held stag dances where men took other men as their dates.Ĭowboys in Westerns are often depicted as loners and heroes, too cool and aloof to settle down with a woman. While there isn’t direct evidence of sexual behavior, photographs and memoirs do tell us that men in these communities slept together at night, groomed each other, ate together, and bathed together. But where did it all come from, and why have we chosen this particular symbol to embody masculine queerness?Īccording to GLBTQ Archive, social historians believe that male-on-male relationships were pretty common in work communities, which also explains the allure of the strapping pair of male sailors or the reason bear culture fetishizes the lumberjack look. Living here in Denver, with the culture of the Western-themed gay bar Charlie’s, the Colorado Gay Rodeo, a historic gay culture, and rich Western culture, it is clear that the trope of the gay cowboy is still alive and well. And of course, I know the film Brokeback Mountain. As a longtime punk fan, I was familiar with the iconic T-shirt from Vivian Westwood’s shop, SEX, featuring two cowboys with genitalia almost touching. These are questions I started asking myself recently when I was tasked with tracking down gay rodeo cowboys for interview.
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What exactly is it that makes the concept of cowboys so tantalizing? Why are they now an icon for gay men? Where exactly did queerness and cowboys converge?