Republicans are losing their sh*t over imaginary gay cowboys riding bareback in Wyoming

Wyoming Republicans are torn between a rock and a hard place: rodeos and gay people. While they love the former, they can’t imagine supporting the latter.

As a result, the state’s Republican Party chair recently made a bold stand against gay rodeos… despite not any existing in Wyoming.

Frank Eathorne, who was just reelected to a third term as party chair, declared at a state Republican Party meeting he doesn’t want the Republican National Committee donating to any LGBTQ+ groups or causes.

For some strange reason, the RNC’s supposed backing of gay rodeos was at the top of his grievance list.

“There’s been expenditures made, unbeknownst to us until later discovery, that direct contributions (to) things like gay rodeos and LGBTQ causes has in fact been transacted,” he said, via Cowboy State Daily.

In the ensuing days, Eathorne hasn’t supplied any additional information about the RNC’s alleged backing of gay rodeos. His broader complaints were centered around the lavish spending habits of RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who used roughly $500,000 in party funds to pay for her luxury D.C. apartment, and another $75,000 on beauty and spa services.

Wyoming National Committeewoman Nina Webber backed Eathorne, saying she doesn’t think it’s appropriate for Republicans to fund gay events, considering their steadfast opposition to LGBTQ+ equality.

“We have a lot of people supporting a lot of events,” she said. “It shouldn’t be based on the ideals of whether someone is gay or not, or by race or faith.”

For those wondering, there is an International Gay Rodeo Association that hosts events across the U.S., mostly in more left-leaning Western states such as New Mexico, California and Nevada. Formed in 1985, the IGRA seeks to “spread the Rodeo spirit across the United States and into Canada.”

Traditionally, gay rodeos have served as important queer spaces in rural parts of the U.S. One participant, Washington resident Curt Westberg, told Oregon Public Radio this summer it was a life-changing revelation when he discovered their existence.

“I saw a flyer somewhere that said, ‘A gay rodeo’ and I was going, ‘You gotta be kidding me!,” he said. “And there was hundreds of men there … It’s like I died and went to heaven.”

But back to the central question: why is the Wyoming Republican Party chair so obsessed with these gay rodeos?

A member of the far-right Oath Keepers, Eathorne traffics in hateful politics, and participated in the Jan. 6 riots. His latest crusade involves targeting county clerks who say audits of elections aren’t necessary.

In other words, he isn’t exactly focused on real issues that affect everyday people in his home state. Instead, he would rather rail against the RNC for its modest outreach to the LGBTQ+ community, such as the creation of the “RNC Pride Coalition.”

Eathorne also pushed heavily for Wyoming’s transgender athlete ban, which even right-wing governor Mark Gordon acknowledged would only impact four high school athletes in the state (Gordon, in cowardly fashion, let the bill pass without his signature).

“There’s plenty of good causes and organizations to support those measures, not those the Democrats support,” said Eathorne.

As probably the first Wyoming politician to ever come out against rodeos, Eathorne is breaking boundaries. It’s probably only a matter of time before he spearheads another pointless and embarrassing cause.