LGBT Stampede

Manhattan, Kansas' annual Country Stampede music festival is a veritable Woodstock for the honky-tonk crowd, attracting droves of country-music lovers to western Kansas to let down their hair and kick up their boot heels. This year promises to be no different, and Manhattan's own Flint Hills Human Rights Project hosts its own celebration to coincide. Hoedown at the Rainbow Ranch is an alternative country-and-western-dance fundraiser to benefit the Simply Equal Campaign and the Praxis Scholarship Fund. More than 150,000 people attend Country Stampede each year, says Christopher Renner, chairman of the FHHRP. His organization aims to provide fun for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and straight folks seeking an alternative, safe opportunity to enjoy a heaping helping of country music. The Praxis Scholarship will benefit a student attending a local college who has worked in Kansas' LGBT community. The dancing starts at 9 p.m. at the VFW Ballroom, on Pierre between Fourth and Fifth streets. Admission costs $10 or $5 with a student or military ID. E-mail kstodc@earthlink.net for more information.
Fri., June 27, 2008