Gay reno

LGBTQ+ Travel Guide

Bookmark our events calendar and plan your next trip to Reno around one of your favorite events.

Northern Nevada Pride takes place annually in Wingfield Park. Each year there is a parade through downtown Reno, concluding at Wingfield Park where the inhabit entertainment and festival will take place. Northern Nevada Parade is produced by and supports the efforts of Our Center - the local LGBTQ+ collective center.

For the entire month of July, Reno is Artown. There are concerts at the beautiful Rancho San Rafael park just north of downtown, along with a variety of other live music, boogie, culture and theatre events.

Burning Man returns to the Jet Rock Desert, August 27-September 4. You can also locate the spirit and art of Burning Man all year long in Reno Tahoe. Art pieces from Burning Dude are sprinkled around Reno including Reno's Neon Line, just west of downtown, and City Plaza, located in the heart of Reno along the lovely Truckee River.

Each September, The Superb Reno Balloon Race sends more than 80 beautiful hot-air balloons into the skies over Reno. It has been one of Reno's most colorful and spectacular events for over three decades and is

Reno's Gay Rodeo: Bucking Stereotypes In The '70s And '80s

1983 was a tough year for Reno’s Queer community.

The AIDS epidemic had reached Nevada, according to the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health. And the Gay Rodeo was facing a stronger threat of force than in years past. An article from the Reno Evening Gazette said that anonymous telephone calls to Reno’s three main television stations warned that snipers were calm to shoot attendees.

Despite threats on multiple fronts, the event was one of the few times that being openly gay was generally accepted in the Biggest Little City.

Tracey Lake first began attending in the late 1970s.

“As a teenager, I’m just… I’m 17, 18 years old,” Lake said. “I’m just figuring out that I like girls.”

Credit Courtesy of Ray Martin

She grew up in Miami and moved to Reno around this age. Miami, in her experience, wasn’t as welcoming to her. Reno’s Gay Rodeo was one of the first widespread LGBTQ+ events she attended.

“It was validating,” Lake said. “Strong, good-looking guys holding hands and kissing, wearing tight jeans with these other colored bandanas in their pockets. I knew it

Reno LGBTQ City Guide

Often called “The Biggest Little Capital in the World,” Reno is a very accepted vacation destination, especially for those who want to gamble but don’t necessarily want all of the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas. It is a bustling, sophisticated metropolis that has boundless opportunities for hiking and recreation within fifty miles of the city perimeters. You can choose to lie in areas that are fasten to the glittering downtown core with its superb LGBTQ bars and casinos, or you can survive in a more rural area to enjoy all that the beautiful outdoors has to offer. Whatever you choose, Reno would make a wonderful place to call home!

A Peek at Reno’s History

Interestingly, Reno was named for a man who had never been to Reno, Jesse Lee Reno. Reno was shot in a battle in Maryland, and at the time that Reno was founded, it was customary to entitle train stops after fallen soldiers. Reno was officially established in 1868, which was the same year that the transcontinental railroad reached the town. After its founding it grew rapidly, with the University of Nevada being founded in 1874. The founding of the University encourage

Reno Gay Rodeo

In 1975, Phil Ragsdale[1], who was Emperor I of the Silver Dollar Court in Reno, conceived of a gay rodeo as a fundraising effort for the Court.

Ragsdale approached the Washoe County Fairgrounds manager and the earliest date the facility was accessible was October 2, 1976. In the months prior to that date, Ragsdale tried renting livestock for the rodeo from Reno area farmers and ranchers, but when he admitted the event was being sponsored by the Reno gay community, every farmer and rancher he approached—nearly three dozen of them—refused to rent their animals. On Friday, October 1, 1976, with the rodeo scheduled the next day, Ragsdale still had no livestock. Determined to buy cows and calves himself for the event, Phil drove 60 miles to Fallon only to discover the weekly livestock auction was held on Wednesdays. The auction managers referred Ragsdale to a local rancher who provided the animals and Ragsdale drove back to Reno at 10 o'clock the evening before the rodeo was scheduled. Early the next morning, the first Reno Gay Rodeo opened with five cows, ten calves, and one Shetland pony. Even though only 150 people atte