Well before Las Vegas gained major league sports teams, the Valley already had a strong reputation as a sports destination—which extended to the LGBTQ+ community. For the past 17 years, Vegas has faithfully hosted the world’s largest annual LGBTQ+ sporting event, known as the Sin City Classic, bringing thousands of athletes and allies together for friendly competition and connection each January.
The multi-day tradition has evolved tremendously since 2008, when the Greater Los Angeles Softball Association (GLASA) founded the event as a 70-team softball tournament then known as the Sin City Shootout in Las Vegas. The nonprofit, which has served LGBTQ+ athletes in the LA metro area since 1978, had hopes of hosting a large-scale event that could present a safe space for sport.
What GLASA didn’t anticipate was the amount of appreciation for an atmosphere that embraces all athletes.
The Sin City Classic, which returns for a citywide takeover January 16-20, has expanded its mission of inclusivity to support 23 sports and more than 10,000 LGBTQ+ athletes and allies today.
“For a lot of folks, they come and it’s the one place where they get to compete. We kind of live in a bubble in California, so we forget that people don’t all live in places that are accepting or have opportunities,” says Jason Peplinski, co-executive director of the event. “Lots of folks come and it’s the time they get to be on a gay team, play a sport … and just frankly be themselves and be out where they are.”
Over the course of four days, the Sin City Classic transforms Las Vegas into a different kind of sports town. Competitions spread far and wide as players flock to local schools, softball complexes, parks, tennis courts and recreation centers around the Valley to compete in everything from kickball and indoor rowing to pickleball and ultimate frisbee. This year, the classic has also added women’s basketball to the mix. And other sports such as wrestling and games of bridge and darts will take place at the Flamingo.
Peplinski says it’s not uncommon for spectators to show up and watch the sporting events happening in Henderson and Summerlin, and definitely those on the Strip.
Because the Sin City Classic does promote inclusive play, Peplinski says participants are also encouraged to register as they identify in terms of gender, orientation and skill level. In 2023, the festival also partnered with Kicking Out Transphobia to host its first all transgender and nonbinary soccer match, and there’s more events like that to come.
“That’s really important to us,” Peplinski says. “We also have done a lot of outreach to grow the Women+ events and Women+ sports. Then also, in the last couple of years, we’ve really put a focus on providing programming for our sober folks.”
CeCe Anthony, a Las Vegas softball player who has participated in the Sin City Classic and three Gay World Series, says the value of sports is that you don’t need to pack into a noisy club to find connection. It’s one of the few social scenes “not centered around a hookup,” and yet it provides something crucial.
“As important as it is for us to have diversity in all the spaces, sometimes when you’re part of a marginalized group, it’s nice to have a space where you’re with like people who have at least a shared experience,” says Anthony.
Growing up with a father in the Air Force, Anthony moved around a lot. But her one constant was always sports.
A few years ago, she settled in Las Vegas after moving back and forth between California and Oklahoma, during which time she says she experienced both sides of the cultural spectrum. Anthony discovered the Las Vegas Gay Softball League, a nonprofit LGBTQ+ sports organization that’s been pitching inclusion since 2009, shortly after her arrival. She’s been playing on a women’s and co-ed team every season since.
“I am thankful for the league, most definitely, because it allowed me to find community,” Anthony says. “It’s nice to have a space, again, where you can be as LGBTQ as you want or not, but you just get to be you.”
“The diversity of the community is amazing, too,” she adds. “You’ve got a lot of brand-new players. You’ve got young players who’ve never played before. You’ve got experienced players. You’ve got old folks like me that are just trying to still have some fun.”
Pride Run Las Vegas 2022
The Las Vegas Gay Softball League embraces all skill levels through a division system spanning amateur, recreational and highly competitive tiers.
After the Sin City Classic has come and gone, local LGBTQ+ leagues continue to set the standard for inclusion year-round. In many cases, they buck stereotypes. The Nevada Gay Rodeo Association (NGRA), a volunteer-run fixture of the local rodeo scene since 1992, leads the way with Memorial Day weekend’s BigHorn Rodeo. The NGRA adopts an inclusive set of rules across the board, with men and women competing in the same rodeo events.
“We’re working hard to keep it at the forefront here in Nevada and make sure that we find people who want a place to belong. Because I’ll tell you the truth, gay rodeo is not as much about the sports as it is the camaraderie,” says Douglas Graff, rodeo director for the BigHorn Rodio, part of the International Gay Rodeo Association.
“If you come to a gay rodeo and you get behind the shoots, there’s a tremendous support network of people trying to help you be the best that you can be. Even though you’re competing against each other—there’s still that level, you still want to win—but the amount of support, helping people and getting people involved and not discouraged is huge.”
After attending his first gay rodeo in Los Angeles in 1994, Graff was eager to get involved. While living in Michigan, he helped get the first Michigan Gay Rodeo off the ground and later started competing. At 27, he rode his first steer, and by 29, his first bull.
Nevada Gay Rodeo Association
“When I was coming of age, I struggled, because I came from the country and I couldn’t quite put gay and country together. And then when I found gay rodeo, it all just was perfect,” says Graff. “I realized how important it was to have something you can belong to. And I don’t care if it’s softball or kickball or volleyball or whatever, when you belong to something, it’s important for your well-being.”
Graff’s bull-riding career sadly ended in 2006 after he shattered his pelvis. But that injury didn’t break his spirit. With the Nevada Gay Rodeo Association, he helps keep the excitement of rodeo alive in and out of the arena. Adding on to the exhilaration of bareback bronc riding and bull-riding, the NGRA’s BigHorn Rodeo features fun “camp” events, like a community goat-dressing competition that anyone from the stands can join.
“It’s intended to be a starter event for people to get involved and get signed up, get in the dirt. If we can get them in the dirt, we can get them hooked,” Graff says. “We’ve had people that started doing goat-dressing and ended up riding bulls and broncs three years later.”
Preserving the legacy of gay rodeo has always been top of mind to the NGRA, especially since this year marks the 50th anniversary of Nevada’s first gay rodeo, which started in Reno in 1975. Graff recognizes rodeo as a rough and risky sport, but the NGRA has also fought to make gay rodeo a safe space for the community. The NGRA also raises funds throughout the year to help local organizations and continues to pour resources back into the competition riders and ropers look forward to every year.
Graff’s reason for staying in gets at the heart of why anyone, regardless of how they identify, chooses a sport and a team and sticks with them, even through injury and hardship.
“They say, if you’re a friend for more than 15 years, you’re really family,” he says. “So I have a huge family after 30 years of being in this, and that’s why I keep doing it.”
Click HERE to subscribe for free to the Weekly Fix, the digital edition of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to date with the latest on Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent directly to your inbox!
