Abstract
"Slapping Leather traces the history and growth of gay rodeo from the 1970s when gay rodeo was a place to fundraise for your community, be out and proud, and embrace a country-western lifestyle, to the expansion and formalization of the gay rodeo during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. Shifting from some of its earlier, more blatant promotion of sex and re-centering its fundraising for AIDS research, it became a place dedicated to supporting its members and establishing a safe community in an often-hostile environment. Yet, as the authors demonstrate, despite the credo of acceptance within the gay rodeo, not all groups have found the same type of support and community there"--
Includes bibliographical references and index.