Riders and animals kick up dust at 2023 Douglas County Fair & Rodeo

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

In the heart of Douglas County, kids and teenagers riding animals kicked o the rodeo events at the annual Douglas County Fair & Rodeo. e early stages of the 10day event unfolded with youth performing a horse-riding routine, participating in a goat-tying competition and riding sheep in the “mutton busting” contest.

Outside the rodeo arena, crowds tried out carnival-style rides and activities, along with treats from food vendors.

One of those vendors, Jenny LeRoux of Rebel Cookie Dough and Confections, came back to the Douglas County fair for another year, selling “ice cream sandwiches bigger than most kids’ heads,” LeRoux said.

Her favorite part of vending at a place like the fair is “just bringing happiness to people through food,” said LeRoux, who lives in Parker. “ ey just get really excited.” e fair’s rst weekend featured barbecue judging, the hometown rodeo, junior division horse show events and many more attractions, according to the schedule. e second weekend features the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo, a line dancing lesson, a pie eating contest and many other events. e Douglas County Fairgrounds sit at 500 Fairgrounds Drive in Castle Rock, a short drive east of Interstate 25 and Plum Creek Parkway. more likely than others to experience mental health distress, suicidal ideation, and suicide planning and attempts, according to a presentation by county sta .

Some events and times are ticketed. See the full schedule at douglascountyfairandrodeo.com or call 720-733-6900. is year’s county fair runs from July 28-Aug. 6.

About 26% of genderqueer or nonbinary people attempted suicide one or more times, according to 2021 Douglas County data focused on youth. at compares to 3% of males, the data say.

Among gay or lesbian youth, 19% attempted suicide one or more times, compared with 3% of straight people, the data say.

While suicide risk is a prevalent issue for young people, suicide also severely a ects the middle-aged male demographic.

“Nationally, statewide, and in Douglas County, middle-aged men represent the single largest group in number who die by suicide,” the county sta presentation says.

“Middle-aged men have been disproportionately impacted by suicide for decades yet prevention and intervention strategies that successfully reach this population are few and far in between which is why we prioritized this group for the grant,” the presentation adds.

‘Indoctrination’

Some public commenters pushed for the commissioners to deny funding for the Castle Rock Pride group, with one person characterizing the group’s activity as “indoctrination” and “the destruction of our children.” at person mentioned “the drag queen show,” an apparent reference to last year’s drag show event at the county fairgrounds in Castle Rock.

Douglas County PrideFest held its annual event at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in August 2022. During a drag show at the celebration, a performer’s breast plate and false nipple were temporarily exposed.

Videos of the performance had circulated on social media, where some commenters expressed frustration with the exposure at an event not designated for adults only.

Organizers had sent out an apology, saying it was not a planned part of the performance.

Castle Rock Pride doesn’t just host the annual Douglas County PrideFest. e nonpro t also holds monthly support groups, family meetups and educational opportunities, according to its website.

One commenter at the meeting said, “I am not anti-LGBTQIA alphabet city whatever. I want to make that clear,” before saying Castle Rock Pride should not receive funding, claiming the nonpro t didn’t meet criteria for the grant.

Others in the audience voiced support for the LGBTQ+ community in general. Angela omas, who said she’s a former social worker, told the commissioners about her experience with her child, who transitioned gender to male. Her child received support through counseling, omas said.

Had her child not received help, “I would have had a dead daughter, not a (living) son,” omas said.

“What these people in (the) Pride (group) are doing is providing acceptance” that kids may not get at home, said omas, arguing people should allow youth to be who they are.

Another commenter from Castle Rock said: “Gayness or gender spectrum has been with us since the beginning of time.”

Anya Zavadil, president of Castle Rock Pride, said as a person in the LGBTQ+ community, she “was not indoctrinated by anyone.”

“I grew up in this county as a human who didn’t know what gay was. My parents made sure of that. e community made sure of that,” Zavadil told the commissioners.

But she still grew up knowing she wasn’t like others, and she was suicidal, she said.

“It doesn’t matter how hard you try to keep children from knowing about the world. Because this is who I am. I am a queer woman who didn’t know that existed, and yet here I am because it’s the real thing,” Zavadil said. “So Castle Rock Pride, again, we are not indoctrinating. We are supporting kids who are hurting.”

Zavadil said she anticipated that negative comments about the nonpro t would occur at the meeting.

“ ose comments only show us how important this support is for our youth,” Zavadil said, adding that when people hear “hatred from their community,” the need for mental health support increases.

‘Mistreated and stigmatized’ e Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and mental health organization for LGBTQ young people, similarly says suicide risk in the LGBTQ community stems from how people are treated.

“LGBTQ youth are not inherently prone to suicide risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity but rather placed at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society,” the organization’s website says.

Lora omas, one of Douglas County’s three commissioners, served as county coroner in the past and “sat in kitchens of families who lost children,” she said.

“We started this meeting with the pledge of allegiance (that says) ‘liberty and justice for all.’ And I thought, ‘How tting,’” omas said.

She added that the funding is the community’s opportunity to say “you are welcome here. We want you to get the help that you all need.”

Disagreement on funding

Commissioner George Teal, who criticized Castle Rock Pride’s activity at the county fairgrounds, proposed excluding the nonpro t from the award list.

Commissioner Abe Laydon and omas did not support that proposal, so it failed.

Castle Rock Pride’s contract for services with the county says the nonpro t will expand its support groups to a wider area.

“Castle Rock Pride currently holds all groups in Castle Rock and will o er groups in additional locations in Highlands Ranch and Parker,” the document says. It adds: “Second, Castle Rock Pride plans a structured, therapist moderated monthly meetings for LGBTQIA+ teens ages 14-21 in both regions. is meeting will be led by a professional therapist hired by Castle Rock Pride.”

Zavadil said with the grant, her organization aims to help build connections and support and that the grant “is not being used for any other aspect.”

“We know that this county is large, and that citizens, especially youth, can’t always drive across the county to access” support, Zavadil said. omas mentioned that any grant recipient has to prove it is successfully using its money, and if it doesn’t, it won’t continue to receive funding.

‘Vulnerable populations’

Some in the audience at the meeting argued Laydon should “recuse,” or remove, himself from the funding vote because he identi es as part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Laydon responded that Teal is a veteran and that “we’re going to support that community. I wouldn’t ask him to recuse himself when (talking) about veterans in our community.”

He noted that for many years in America, people were told that they were “unnatural.”

“And we hear, as the board of social services, (we know of children)

SEE COUNTY, P22