FRIDAY 8/25 – THURSDAY 8/31
26 SATURDAY The Illinois Gay Rodeo Association’s annual event is distinguished from run-of-the-mill rodeos by a trio of “camp events”–steer decorating (in which a team must tie a ribbon on a steer’s tail), goat dressing (in which a team dresses a goat in briefs) and the “wild drag race” (in which a participant dressed in drag tries to ride a bucking steer). There’s also the requisite pole bending, bull riding, chute dogging, barrel racing, and calf roping. It’s today and tomorrow from noon to 6 (with country-and-western dancing from 1 to 6) at Sundown Stables, 22230 S. Cottage Grove in Steger. The awards ceremony takes place tomorrow night from 8 to 9:30 at the Days Inn, 17356 S. Torrence in Lansing. Admission is $15, or $25 for a weekend pass, and benefits local charities (312-618-9063).
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
29 TUESDAY Five years ago, when a rural Arkansas woman named Sophia and her partner Vickie had a commitment ceremony, her daughter Ryan innocently told her friends at school about it. For the next two years she was assaulted and taunted with names like bitch, dog, slut, and gaywad. After Sophia complained to the school’s principal, whose response was to suggest she “think about changing your lifestyle, now that it is affecting your daughter’s life,” Sophia and Vickie decided it was safer to homeschool Ryan. Filmmaker Meema Spadola tells their story, and those of four other families, in Our House: A Very Real Documentary About Kids of Gay and Lesbian Parents, which she produced and directed. It’ll be screened tonight at 7 at an event sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network; a discussion follows. It’s at the Conrad Sulzer Regional Library, 4455 N. Lincoln, and it’s free (312-409-1835).
