For three weeks every March, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo takes over the Bayou City. Athleisure is out; fringe is in. Cosplay cowboys fill restaurants and bars. Thousands of trail riders, some pulling covered wagons, shut down major roadways. Despite the area’s negligible connection to the Old West—Houston’s early history was shaped by cotton, not cattle—the event that debuted in 1932 as the Houston Fat Stock Show and Livestock Exposition has grown into something close to a civic religion. Like no other institution, the rodeo unites Houstonians of all races, classes, and political persuasions. This was the mighty organization that Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo rode into battle against last week. On the evening of March 10, Hidalgo attempted to gain access to the so-called…
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