April 30, 1974 -
First attended a gay rodeo in 2000
Inducted 2019
Guy Puglisi (aka Porkchop) was born in Buffalo, New York. When he was three, his parents moved to the dry, warm desert of Las Vegas, Nevada. Guy has been a Las Vegas resident for over 40 years and has been an active part of the gay community since 1992, volunteering his spare time for a number of groups and organizations: Golden Rainbow, The Men of Charlie's as one of the contest coordinators for 11 years, PFLAG, and SNAPI/Las Vegas Pride to name a few. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada (The Center) as Member-at-Large (2001-2002) and Vice President (2002-2003) when it was housed in a very, very small building converted from an old dentist's office.
Guy became a member of the Nevada Gay Rodeo Association (NGRA) in March 2000 immediately after his first exposure to the sport of gay rodeo, which was at the Road Runner Regional Rodeo in Phoenix, AZ in January 2000. Since then, he has served on the NGRA Board of Directors as: Member-at-Large (2000-2001), Secretary/Membership Chairperson (2001-2002), and Vice President (2002-2003). Additionally, he wasappointed to complete the remaining term of Trustee (February-October 2004) when the position was left vacant for the second time. Guy most recently served as the NGRA Trustee from January 2011 through December 2016. Additionally, he was the Chairman of the IGRA Board of Trustees from January 2014 through December 2016 and the IGRA Division II Vice Chairman from January 2013 through December 2013. Guy has been elected as the Trustee to IGRA again in 2019 for a threeyear term.
In addition to his board responsibilities, Guy has worked in several other capacities for NGRA and IGRA. He served as the Assistant Rodeo Director for BigHorn Rodeo 2003 and was part of the 2002 NGRA Royalty Team, which helped raise thousands of dollars to assist NGRA in making its comeback rodeo in 2002 after taking a year off. Guy was an active member of the Fundraising and Pride committees in past years and served as Co-Rodeo Director for BigHorn Rodeo 14 and 15. In November 2014, Guy was awarded with NGRA's highest honor, a lifetime membership, for his many years of service and dedication to his home association. After his most recent six-year term as Trustee, he also served as the IGRA Rodeo Officials Committee Chair in 2017 and Co-Chair in 2018, which was the year that took recertification testing into the electronic age for all certified officials.
With a passion for the sport of gay rodeo and the gay community at large, Guy has been a certified Scorekeeper for the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) since 2000 and a certified Secretary since 2002. He travels to numerous rodeos each year representing NGRA and participating in the production of rodeos across the country (Guy is currently the only IGRA-certified rodeo official on the NGRA membership roster and hopes to continue getting other members involved in the exciting experience of running an IGRA-sanctioned rodeo event in an official capacity.) Guy has officiated in one capacity or another at over 150 rodeos, which is approximately 30% of the IGRA-sanctioned rodeos held to date. He was awarded one of the inaugural Certified Officials Awards in 2017. Additionally, he has received multiple IGRA Service Awards and an IGRA Appreciation Award.
Guy's nickname, Porkchop, which was given to him by the late DeShannon Christy Jewel at the Atlantic Stampede in 2002, will likely stick with him for the rest of his life. On Friday night, after multiple days of sightseeing, a tuckered out Guy returned to his room early from the big Welcome Party. DeShannon, in her ever-clever way, looked at him and said, "Back so soon? Do I need to tie pork chops around your neck to get the other boys to come play with you?" The nickname stuck and a long-standing friendship was solidified.
Combining his experience and knowledge of the gay community, gay rodeo, fundraising, and non-profit service with his dedication and commitment to his community and its organizations, Guy continues to be very active in the gay rodeo scene, although he took a hiatus from any official board or committee position in 2019 to give him time to focus on unique family and career obligations. He currently works for the State of Nevada in human services management overseeing two offices and three programs with over 200 staff. Guy was appointed by the Governor of Nevada in 2015 to serve on a committee tasked with providing final review of employee grievances for all state employees; he continues to serve in this role as the committee's chairman. He plans to retire from his career in 2022 with 30 years of service to the State of Nevada.