Birmgham Bulls are changg perceptns about gay gby players - Outsports

Contents:

• WHAT MAK GAY GBY'S BGHAM CUP TOURNAMENT SO SPECIAL?
• MADISON ULD HOST 2025 INTERNATNAL GAY RUGBY NORTH AMERIN CUP
• INTERNATNAL GAY RUGBY PREPAR FOR BGHAM CUP
• HEARD OF THE STEELERS? NO, NOT THEM, THE GAY GBY TEAM OM LONDON
• THIS GAY GBY TEAM IS CHANGG HEARTS AND MDS EVERY DAY
• JOG THE WORLD'S FIRST GAY GBY TEAM CHANGED MY LIFE. SO I MA A FILM ABOUT
• A GAY GIRL’S GUI TO THE 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
• MELBOURNE DOMAT TO W BGHAM CUP GAY GBY TLE

WHAT MAK GAY GBY'S BGHAM CUP TOURNAMENT SO SPECIAL?

Shortly after a handful of gby unn clubs for gay and bisexual men om the UK and USA had found the Internatnal Gay Rugby Associatn and Board (IGRAB) October 2000, The Washgton Renegas held an rmal, ternatnal, vatnal tournament at their home DC May 2001.

As a gay man and regular gby player, Mark not only played for San Francis Fog but also helped to set up Gotham Knights New York Cy and was well known throughout the fledglg IGR was credibly shockg that jt three month’s followg the vatnal, Mark would loose his life the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks, onboard flight Uned October 2001, followg the 2001 vatnal, the San Francis Fog succsfully lobbied IGRAB for the right to put on a XVs gby tournament  San Francis  June tournament was fashned the style of the Rugby World Cup, wh both the tournament and cup prize named honor of Mark followg a unanimo cisn by all the members of IGRAB. The Bgham Cup brgs together gay and clive gby unn teams om all over the world (photo by Kev Stt). "Until you're part of the Bgham Cup, you don't realise how big is, " says Marc-Pl Stufkens, one of the anisers of the 'World Cup' of gay gby that will wele over 2000 players, ach, officials and supporters to Amsterdam this weekend.

Then all of a sudn, every two years, you see they're each part of this worldwi gay gby muny. " Gay gby clubs om all over the world are about to scend on Amstelveense, a suburb the south of the cy. The tournament self is the flagship event of Internatnal Gay Rugby and tak s name om Mark Bgham, who played for the San Francis Fog - a foundg member of IGR - and later tablished the Gotham Knights club New York Cy.

MADISON ULD HOST 2025 INTERNATNAL GAY RUGBY NORTH AMERIN CUP

"There are a number of gay sports events - the Gay Gam, for example - but this is the only one that foc on gby unn. "It's a platform to help make gay people om all across the world visible. " An exhibn of Bgham Cup photography lled 'Rugby Is My Pri' is beg held at this year's tournament Amsterdam (photo by Gvanni Caprtti) For gay gby clubs, the petn, muny and celebratn that the biennial Cup embodi serv as a bean, wherever they might be the world.

INTERNATNAL GAY RUGBY PREPAR FOR BGHAM CUP

There's a b of tongue cheek around the namg nventns too - the club om Baltimore, home of legendary gay movie director John Waters, are lled the Flamgos.

"Team sport is different, pecially for gay men, " says Stufkens. " Teams om Holland, Swen and Canada are set to take on a World Barbarians XV a four-team women's petn at the Bgham Cup this year Stufkens scrib team sports culture for gay men as "a ltle more plited" than for their straight unterparts. "There have been velopments, and be easier for people who are gay to start participatg team sports when they're younger, but the realy is that a lot of guys playg only e to at a later age.

HEARD OF THE STEELERS? NO, NOT THEM, THE GAY GBY TEAM OM LONDON

"Here the Netherlands, we might not need to talk about 'emancipatn' for gay people anymore, but visibily - to show across the world that this is happeng, that we're playg gby jt like any other person - is important.

"I don't thk 's graed homophobia, 's more like people don't really get - and then when an cint , they're like 'oh s**t, now we unrstand aga'. "Robbie Brennan, of London's Kgs Cross Steelers - the world's first gay gby club - unrstands gby's fay feel better than most. "Brennan's eback cid wh the fale to a landmark season for the Steelers, who won their league to earn promotn to the London Essex 3 divisn - the eighth tier of the English gby pyramid, and what will be the hight level at which a gay and clive team has ever played the UK.

THIS GAY GBY TEAM IS CHANGG HEARTS AND MDS EVERY DAY

In an terview wh ESPN Scm 2014, she explaed how Mark, even though he was "a big guy full of nfince", faced difficulti life for beg gay.

JOG THE WORLD'S FIRST GAY GBY TEAM CHANGED MY LIFE. SO I MA A FILM ABOUT

The tournament was first held 2002 memory of 9/11 gay gby hero Mark Bgham, one of the passengers who fought back agast hijackers on board Uned flight 93. The Bgham Cup is a biennial, ternatnal gby tournament celebratg gay and clive gby clubs.

It was named honor of Mark Bgham who helped start two of the first premier gay gby clubs (the San Francis Fog and the Gotham Knights) and is ternatnally known as one of the hero of 9/11. At the time of Bgham’s ath, only six gay and clive gby clubs existed worldwi.

A GAY GIRL’S GUI TO THE 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

Currently, we are the only Internatnal Gay Rugby (IGR) team our unn prised of seven stat meang we reprent Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Arkansas. (WMTV) - The Cy of Madison has been named as a falist and uld host the Internatnal Gay Rugby North Amerin Cup Madison Motrs Rugby Club and the Madison Area Sports Commissn teamed up to try and brg the tournament to Madison.

The immensy and gravas of petg the world cup of gay gby - the biennial Bgham Cup - is somethg that didn't tly h me until I was g off the pch followg my first match at my first ever Bgham Cup Amsterdam this past summer. Especially, bee the tournament is only played by LGBTQ and LGBTQ-clive clubs who battle homophobia and negative stereotyp of the LGBTQ muny every time they step foot on a pch.

I was plag about not beg able to fd the gay muny that media had promised me, and I was feelg isolated and lonely New York Cy.

MELBOURNE DOMAT TO W BGHAM CUP GAY GBY TLE

"As someone who's played and peted sport on many levels, I know that the sportg world is often unwelg and a sry place for gay men, " says Dunn. "In October 2016, Internatnal Gay Rugby, which is the larger umbrella anizatn for the world's gay and clive gby clubs, announced that Bgham Cup 2018 would be held Amsterdam.

Dpe trag to pete match agast teams the Empire Rugby Football Unn Geographil Unn - the erng body for the Gotham Knight's lol match - my md was always thkg ahead to petg agast other gay and LGBTQ-iendly teams om all over the world at the Bgham Cup. Durg those two years of preparatn, gay gby and the Gotham Knights tght me who I was, what I was pable of, and playg gby Amsterdam for the Bgham Cup offered eply movg moments of knowledge that every tackle and every try sred at the Bgham Cup stands to dispel negative stereotyp about the LGBT muny and is a steppg stone to LGBTQ-clive societi the world over creat a phoria all of s own.

This feelg is only magnified by the fact that, while Amsterdam, I was surround by roughly 1, 619 other gby players who were welg and the livg embodiment of the spir of clivy that the larger tentnal gay by muny spir. "Named for Mark Kendall Bgham, the Bgham Cup celebrat Bgham as an athlete, an Amerin hero, a gay man, and honors his lastg legacy. Bgham was a member of the gay-clive gby team the San Francis Fog and was talks wh his East Coast iends about settg up a New York Cy team when he lost his life when he and others attempted to retake Uned Flight 93 om hijackers on September 11, 2001.