San Diego, CA

San Diego Gay Rodeo Poised to Return in 2025 | San Diego Magazine

Published

2 years ago

June 26, 2024

San Diego Gay Rodeo Poised to Return in 2025 | San Diego Magazine

Stop by The Loft on 5th Avenue on a Saturday afternoon, and you might find Andy Siekkinen in a cowboy hat and a red rodeo sash, carrying a platter of Jell-o shots. Don’t be fooled by his understated demeanor and quiet smile—Siekkinen is royalty. Gay rodeo royalty, that is.

This year, Siekkinen was the first runner-up for Mr. International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA). In the past two years, he won the distinctions Mr. Golden State Gay Rodeo (GSGRA) and Mr. Palm Springs Hot Rodeo. Despite all these titles, he’s relatively new to the world of rodeo.

Siekkinen grew up on a dairy farm in Ohio, but he had never ridden a horse until three years ago, when he learned about gay rodeo and started training to compete. Now, it is a central part of his life. And those red and green Jell-o shots he’s hawking have an important role to play—Siekkinen is raising funds to revive the San Diego Gay Rodeo, a once-raucous annual event that hasn’t taken place in 14 years.

Courtesy of Gay Rodeo History

San Diego’s first Gay Rodeo was held in 1989. It continued annually up until 2010, when low membership caused it to shutter. The rodeos are completely volunteer-run, so without actively recruiting members and training new leadership, “you don’t have enough critical mass to keep going,” Siekkinen explains.

But Siekkinen believes now is the perfect time for the event to return to our city. Mainstream culture has a renewed interest in the Western aesthetic: Cowboy boots are trending, Yellowstone is streaming, and pop stars have started releasing country songs. “Right now, we’re in an upswing,” Siekkinen says. “You can just feel it.”

Longtime San Diego resident Tim Lowry attended the first-ever San Diego Gay Rodeo. “It was in Lakeside, and we were all worried about getting beat up,” he recalls. But that didn’t stop him from attending. There was too much fun to be had. Thousands of people packed an event hall at the rodeo, line dancing. “I loved me some cowboys and a twirl across the floor,” Lowry says.

A Golden State Gay Rodeo Association event — Courtesy of Golden State Gay Rodeo Association

What makes a gay rodeo different from a “straight rodeo?” Well, beyond the traditional roping and rough stock competitions, there are events you just won’t find anywhere else—like Steer Decorating, in which a pair of competitors must tie a ribbon to a steer’s tail, or Goat Dressing, in which contestants must wrestle a goat into a pair of tighty-whities and race back across the finish line before the underwear falls down. Then there’s the Wild Drag Race, where a participant has to jump on the back of a steer dressed in full drag. “It’s pure chaos,” Siekkinen says.

But it’s not all horseplay. Another integral aspect of the event is charity. America’s first gay rodeo, held in Reno in 1976, raised money for a Thanksgiving dinner at a home for the elderly, and subsequent rodeos have donated their profits to muscular dystrophy and HIV research, among other social needs.

“Our rodeos aren’t just for the LGBTQ community,” Siekkinen says. “I like to say they’re for anybody who’s not an asshole.” In May, one of the bull riders at the Las Vegas Gay Rodeo made his gay rodeo debut after only competing in traditional rodeos. He joined to get involved in the LGBTQ community and support his 13-year-old child who had come out as non-binary. He won the Sportsmanship Award by a landslide, Siekkinen remembers.

Siekkinen isn’t the only one striving to bring the gay rodeo back to town. Tessa Trujillo is working the crowd at The Loft, charming customers and delivering shots. Her voice carries across the patio, punctuated by an infectious laugh. “I’m a people person,” she says.

The Palm Springs Hot Rodeo a regional event as part of the Golden State Gay Rodeo Association featuring cowboys practicing their lassos — Courtesy of Palm Springs Hot Rodeo

Trujillo has spent all her life in San Diego. “My family has been in California since before there was a California,” she tells me. Her grandfather was a cattle farmer. Like Siekkinen, she found her way into the gay rodeo circuit in recent years. “I’ve been to straight rodeos,” she says. “But I never felt at home.”

When she attended a gay rodeo in Scottsdale, she became hooked. She was crowned Miss Palm Springs Hot Rodeo in 2022 and Miss Golden State Gay Rodeo in 2023. But she wanted her hometown to experience the same energy and community. “I got this urge,” she says. “I thought, ‘I’m gonna bring this back to San Diego.’”

Trujillo has stayed true to her word. She has thrown herself into planning, recruiting members, and fundraising––she orchestrates pool tournaments, raffles, barbecues. “It’s a lot of work, but I love it,” Trujillo says. “I’m good at it.”

Winners of the 2023 International Gay Rodeo featuring cowboys and drag queens wearing sashes — Courtesy of International Gay Rodeo Association

This year, Trujillo became the first-ever Mx. Golden State Gay Rodeo, a new distinction that Siekkinen helped establish in an effort to make GSGRA more inclusive. The pre-existing royalty categories were Mr., Ms., Miss, and MsTer, the latter two awarded to drag queens and kings, respectively.

At the annual IGRA convention, Siekkinen proposed adding a Mx. title. He had noticed he wasn’t seeing a lot of non-binary and gender-nonconforming individuals in the rodeo community. “I want everybody to know they’re welcome,” he says. “We need to make sure we’re not stuck in the past. We have to evolve and change and bring younger people in.” The committee took a vote and it passed unanimously.

Trujillo and Siekkinen are hoping to revive the San Diego Gay Rodeo as soon as 2025. There are many steps to the process: graduating from a club to a chapter, becoming a 501(c)3, and raising a lot more money. But Siekkinen is optimistic. “Those early rodeos were wild,” he says. “That’s why so many people would come—because it was such an experience. To recapture that, we have to look to the future and make sure we are part of it.”

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San Diego, CA

Mayor Gloria defends Balboa Park paid parking, blames council for rocky rollout

Published

3 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Mayor Gloria defends Balboa Park paid parking, blames council for rocky rollout

San Diego will put off issuing citations for paid parking in Balboa Park for about one month while improvements are made, but Mayor Todd Gloria says the new system is functioning well and being “actively adopted.”

In a long and harshly worded memo released Thursday, Gloria said recent calls by City Council members to suspend the program were politically motivated and examples of bad governance and erratic decision-making.

Gloria also deflected blame for the chaotic way enforcement began Monday, when city officials raced to put stickers about resident discounts on parking kiosks and lobbied a vendor to deliver crucial missing signs.

The mayor said the council had “shaped, amended and approved” paid parking in Balboa Park and contended an accelerated timeline chosen by the council made it hard for his administration to implement it flawlessly.

The mayor’s memo came in response to a Tuesday memo from Councilmembers Kent Lee and Sean Elo-Rivera in which they called implementation of paid parking “haphazard” and “not ready for prime time.”

Lee and Elo-Rivera said the process for city residents to get approved for discounts was so complex, cumbersome and confusing that Gloria should waive fees for residents until they have had time to adapt and learn.

While Gloria rejected that suggestion in part of his memo, he later said “enforcement remains focused on education, not punishment, during this early phase, to ensure park users are aware of the new parking fees.”

Dave Rolland, a spokesperson for Gloria, said Thursday that no specific date had been set for when the city would shift from education to enforcement. But he added that “about a month” would be an accurate timeline.

City officials have already corrected one key mistake: Signs that were missing Monday — alerting drivers that the 951-space lower Inspiration Point lot is free for three hours — have since been installed.

Lee and Elo-Rivera in their memo decried “an inadequate effort to educate the public on how to use this new system.”

They said San Diegans had not been clearly informed about when a portal for city resident discounts would go live or how to use it.

And they complained that residents weren’t told they couldn’t buy discounted parking passes in person, or when enforcement with citations would actually begin.

City residents must apply for discounts online, pay $5 to have their residency verified, then wait two days for that verification and choose the day they will visit in advance.

Lee and Elo-Rivera called the city’s efforts “a haphazard rollout that will surely lead to San Diegans missing out on their resident discount and paying higher parking rates than they have to.”

Gloria said the city collected $23,000 in parking fees on Monday and Tuesday and another $106,000 in daily, monthly and quarterly passes — mostly from residents who get discounts on such passes.

“Early data shows that the program is functioning and being used,” he said. “These are not the metrics of a system that is failing to function. They are the metrics of a system that is new, actively being adopted, and continuing to improve as public familiarity increases.”

While Gloria conceded that some improvements are still necessary, he rejected calls from Lee and Elo-Rivera for a suspension, citing his concerns it would jeopardize city finances and confuse the public.

“Your proposal to suspend paid parking for residents two days into the new program would have immediate and serious fiscal consequences,” Gloria said. “This reversal could introduce confusion among park users and would disregard investments already made to establish the system, potentially compromising the program’s effectiveness.”

Paid parking in Balboa Park is expected to generate about $3.7 million during the fiscal year that ends June 30, but revenue is expected to rise substantially when the fees are in place for a full fiscal year.

Gloria said the money is a small part of the city’s overall solution to recurring deficits it faces of more than $100 million per year.

“What we will not do is reverse course days into implementation in a way that undermines fiscal stability, creates uncertainty, and sends the message that addressing a decades-old structural budget deficit that has plagued our city is optional because it is politically uncomfortable,” he said. “That kind of erratic decision-making is not good governance, and San Diegans deserve better.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the San Diego Zoo said Thursday that paid parking there has continued to go smoothly since it began on Monday.

The zoo, which is using Ace Parking for enforcement, opted for immediate citations instead of an educational grace period.

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San Diego, CA

Barricaded individual in custody following police response in Mission Valley

Published

15 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Barricaded individual in custody following police response in Mission Valley

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego Police responded to a barricaded individual in the Mission Valley area Thursday afternoon, prompting a heavy law enforcement presence.

The Nexstar Media video above details resources for crime victims

The department confirmed around 1 p.m. that officers were on scene in the 1400 block of Hotel Circle North, and are working to safely resolve the situation. Authorities asked the public to avoid the area and allow officers the space needed to conduct their operations.

Police described the incident as a domestic violence restraining order violation. At this time, it’s unknown if the person is armed.

No injuries have been reported.

The suspect was taken into custody within an hour.

Further details about the barricaded person were not immediately released. Police say updates will be shared as more information becomes available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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San Diego, CA

Padres roster review: Luis Campusano

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Padres roster review: Luis Campusano – San Diego Union-Tribune

LUIS CAMPUSANO

Position(s): Catcher
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2026 opening day age: 27
Height / Weight: 5-foot-10 / 232 pounds
How acquired: Second round of the draft in 2017 (Cross Creek HS, Ga.)
Contract status: Will make $900,000 after agreeing to a one-year deal to avoid arbitration; Will not be a free agent until 2029.
fWAR in 2025: Minus-0.4
Key 2025 stats: .000 AVG, .222 OBP, .000 SLG, 0 HRs, 0 RBIs, 0 runs, 6 walks, 11 strikeouts, 0 steals (10 games, 27 plate appearances)

STAT TO NOTE

1 — The number of plate appearances for Campusano while in the majors between June 1 and June 13 and the one at-bat resulted in a weak, pinch-hit groundout against a position player (Kike Hernandez) on the mound in mop-up duty. Campusano was recalled to the majors four times in 2025 but did not get a real opportunity get settled after he went 0-for-6 with four walks and a strikeout in three straight starts as a DH in early May. Of course, hitting .227/.281/.361 with eight homers over 299 plate appearances after getting the first real chance to start in 2024 likely informed how the Padres viewed his opportunity in 2025.

Down — Called up a final time on the last day of the regular season, Campusano balked at the idea that the season did not go the way he wanted. “I had a great season,” he said as he and his teammates packed for the NL Wild Card Series in Chicago. And he did … for Triple-A El Paso. He hit more home runs than ever (25), drove in more runs (95) and finished with a career-high 1.036 OPS, tops among all qualifying Triple-A hitters. The disappointment inferred in the question posed to Campusano was that he was not able to impact the big-league team in any way in 2025, which began with the team choosing to bring in a 40-year-old Yuli Gurriel a chance on the opening day roster over a homegrown product. Once billed as the catcher of the future, Campusno did not catch a single game in the majors, nor did he get any hits, although the opportunity to play was sporadic after getting three straight starts as a DH in early May (see stat to note). The Padres even lost back-up catcher Elias Díaz to an oblique injury over the final weekend of the regular season, but Campusano — who played out the string for a Triple-A El Paso team that did not make the playoffs rather than participate in the majors as a September call-up — was added to the postseason roster more as a right-handed bat than a third catcher (Martín Maldonado was also re-added to the team for the playoffs as the defensive back-up to Freddy Fermin). Campusano, of course, was not asked to help the team in either capacity before the Padres were eliminated in three games.

2026 OUTLOOK

Campusano is finally out of minor league options this year, so the Padres will either have to carry him on the roster, trade him or expose him to waivers. He has fans in the organization, but two big-league staffs headed by Bob Melvin and Mike Shildt seemingly lost faith in his ability to catch a game and all the responsibilities that come with that. It remains to be seen what impact the arrival of robo umps will have on how new manager Craig Stammen views Campusano’s ability behind the plate, but he’s been a potent minor league hitter who has yet to truly get on track in the majors beyond the second half of 2023 (.875 OPS, 6 HRs). Campusano has dabbled at first base in recent years in the minors (12 starts total), so perhaps he settles into a role as a second catcher/right-handed DH/first base option to start 2026.

Luis Campusano #15 of the San Diego Padres and Nick Pivetta #27 walk to the dugout during a practice before the Wildcard series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sept. 29, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)