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. 

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. 

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.

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.”

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.”

Search crews found the body of a woman believed to be 50-year-old Diem Le Nguyen Monday after the mother of three vanished while hiking in San Diego on Sunday with a group of 100 people, according to authorities.

Using helicopter search and rescue efforts, a deceased body was found about quarter-of-a-mile from reaching a nearby street at 9:15 a.m. local time on Monday, said San Diego Police Department’s public information officer Lt. Daniel Meyer in a press conference Monday.

“She nearly made it out,” said Meyer.

Family members are shocked by her death.

“It was really sad because losing someone is not easy,“ William Dom, a member of Nguyen’s family, told NBC 7.

“She is very careful. Everything she does. I am surprised to see she ran out of water,” said Dom. “She always prepares well for what she is doing.”

USA TODAY reached out to the San Diego Police Department regarding the incident.

Fundraiser turned into a tragedy

The group hiking trip was created to raise money for “Build a School Foundation,” to build schools in Southeast Asia, reports CBS 8.

“With great sadness, we share with you the worst nightmare of someone who tried to make this world a better place, but suffered the tragic loss of one of us fellow Vietnamese Americans,” said the foundation in a Facebook post. “Our hearts are sadden with Diem’s family and loved ones.”

What happened?

Nguyen hiked up the Night Hawk Trail on Sunday with a group of around 100 people, said Meyer at an earlier press conference.

The following is what occurred on Sunday, according to the officer:

• 8 a.m.: Nguyen began hiking with a group of around 100 people. The group consisted of many family and friends. Halfway up the mountain, the group decided to return to the base. Nguyen separated and continued towards the peak.
• 10:08 a.m.: Nguyen called her family in distress and told them she was “very hot and needed water.” This was the last time her family heard from her.
• 11:30 a.m.: SFPD responded to the call and identified Nguyen as a missing person at risk. The environment, heat index and her distress call played a factor in classifying her.

The search went into the night and continued on Monday until a body was found.

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. She has covered various topics, from local businesses and government in her hometown, Miami, to tech and pop culture. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on X, formerly Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — History was made today in San Diego. The first of its kind, all-electric tugboat, the eWolf, was officially christened on San Diego Bay Tuesday.

The eWolf will begin commercial service this week.

Instead of burning diesel fuel like other tugboats, the eWolf is the first all-electric powered harbor tugboat in the United States.

Operating with zero emissions and other sustainable technology, the eTug delivers high-power capability, safety and efficiency, the announcement said.

Maritime, energy and logistics solutions company, Crowley, christened the eWolf on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.

Built by Master Boat Builders in Coden, Ala., the 82-foot vessel delivers 70 tons of bollard pull, which is stronger than the traditional tugboat.

Unlike tugboats that burn diesel fuel, the eTug uses a more environmentally friendly and sustainable power source, which will be charged at a station on the shore.

The eWolf is not only a game changer in sustainability, it’s also the most advanced technologically. It features next generation radar, sonar, and more.

The goal — to reduce pollution and improve the air quality for San Diego.

In the first 10 years of its use, the eWolf will reduce 2.5 tons of diesel fuel pollution and 3,100 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution compared to a conventional tugboat, according to Crowley.

Crowley was joined at the vessel christening by project partners including the Port of San Diego, San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the U.S. EPA and the U.S. Maritime Administration. 

“The eWolf is a historic milestone in the maritime industry and Crowley’s legacy, and underscores our company’s commitment to serve as global sustainability leaders and innovators. The all-electric tugboat is the most technologically advanced vessel of its kind, and eWolf will help our customers and communities reach their decarbonization goals while delivering capabilities that strengthen our vital supply chain,” said Tom Crowley, Chairman and CEO. “We congratulate the people whose tireless dedication brought the eWolf to fruition with our partners at the federal, state and local government, setting a new standard not just in America, but globally.”

At the christening, the vice president of Crowley said San Diego now has the most advanced and safest operating vessel ever built.

“Crowley’s first-of-its-kind electric tugboat is a game changer. It checks all the boxes by providing environmental, economic, and operational benefits for our communities and maritime industry,” said Frank Urtasun, Port of San Diego Chairman. “This is truly a story of teamwork and collaboration. We are proud to work with Crowley and our state and local partners on this and other electrification initiatives at and around our port, including electric cargo handling equipment like our all-electric mobile harbor cranes, our microgrid, vessel shore power, and more.”

The name was chosen as a nod to a tugboat in the company’s initial fleet, the Sea Wolf, which operated more than a century ago in California.

Dan Plante contributed to this report