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John King

John King established Charlie’s bar in the early 1980s in Denver, Colorado. Charlie’s became a central nightclub for the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association with John King and his friend Wayne Jakino becoming founding members of IGRA. He now owns five nightclubs and lives in Phoenix.

Interview Location: Denver, Colorado

Date: July 08, 2017 | Interviewer: Rebecca Scofield

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How did you find gay rodeo?

Well, first of all we decided to do our own rodeo, [...] and we had like forty contestants I think, and we made a thousand dollars. We didn't have as many people as we wanted out there but we made a thousand dollars and we promtly gave it to charity. With that we sort of got the attention and the start of acceptance by the rest of the gay community. [...] The rest is history because the doors were opening and we went on to form IGRA out of Colorado [...].

-John King

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