Greg Begay

Greg Begay was born on the Navajo Reservation and grew up around Klagetoh, Arizona. As a kid, he traveled to rodeos with his family and he began riding horses at an early age. Greg has been competing in rodeos since high school and joined the Arizona chapter of the IGRA in 2009. Greg is a dedicated rodeo athlete who competes in many events, including break-away roping, calf roping, team roping, barrel racing, pole bending, flag racing, steer decorating, goat dressing, and wild drag.

Interview Location: Denver, Colorado

Date: November 22, 2019 | Interviewer: Renae Campbell

Go to Transcript

What was your experience coming out?

I was like nineteen or twenty, and I was hearing all this gay stuff, like, “I think there's a gay rodeo.” And I searched it up on the internet. And then I forgot to delete the search history and my mom was like, “What is this?”[...] I didn't come out until I was twenty-one, so it kinda led into something that I wasn't prepared for.

-Greg Begay

What does it mean to be a cowboy or cowgirl and are you one?

In a sense that I'm a performance rodeo athlete, yeah [...], I am a cowboy. As far as farming and taking care of animals, [...] yes. But herding animals, no. It’s just—it’s a big question.

-Greg Begay

Have you ever been physically injured?

All the times that I've actually been injured has been in a gay rodeo. [...] At finals in Albuquerque, I got kicked in the knee and tore my ACL. But I didn't know it. [...] I competed that whole next year with the torn ACL. Can't stop me, I guess.

-Greg Begay

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