Prime Minister backs Convicts to host gay rugby world cup
With plenty of talk in recent days about homophobia on the football pitch, the Sydney Convicts gay and inclusive rugby club have received an official endorsement from Prime Minister Julia Gillard for Sydney to hold the next Bingham Cup in 2014.
After tasting victory at the most recently held Bingham Cup in Manchester, England in June the Convicts have now made an official bid to host the tournament widely known as the gay rugby world cup.
As part of the bid, a video has been created to show off the support the Convicts have from high-profile Australians including the Prime Minister.
“It gives me great pleasure to support the Sydney Convicts’ bid to host the seventh Bingham Cup rugby tournament in Sydney in 2014,” Gillard says in the video.
“Australia is a sports-loving nation which also has an abiding commitment to diversity and mutual respect. The vibrant city of Sydney is the perfect location for the Bingham Cup. And the Sydney Convicts, Australia’s first gay rugby union club, are the perfect hosts.
“In recent years, Sydney has hosted the Olympics, and gay games and the Rugby World Cup with a remarkable spirit of openness and celebration. I know that Bingham Cup participants would receive the same warm and generous welcome.”
The Convicts bid to host the next Bingham Cup has already received support from the likes of NSW Governor Marie Bashir, Lord Mayor Clover Moore, Olympic gold medallist Matthew Mitcham as well as rugby legends John Eales, Phil Kearns, Brendan Cannon, Mark Ella, Nick Farr-Jones and Peter Fitzsimons.
The Wallabies and captain David Pocock, a big supporter of marriage equality, are also behind the bid.
Sydney Convicts Founder and Chairman of the Bingham Cup 2014 Bid Committee, Andrew Purchas, said the support received so far was overwhelming and very encouraging.
“It is very clear that homophobia is quite rampant in the footy codes and many of the Convicts players would not be playing rugby if it was not for the Convicts.
“We have to work hard at making sure everybody understands terms like ‘gay’ and ‘homo’, when used derogatorily, have a significant impact,” he said.
“If the Bingham Cup is played in Sydney it will hopefully demonstrate to a wider audience that gays can play rugby and shine a light on this issue.”
If the bid is successful, the tournament is likely to attract up to 1,200 gay rugby players and will take place in late August 2014 at and around the Woollahra playing fields in Sydney’s east.
The Convicts will be in action this weekend in what is one of the most important matches the club has been involved in as their A side battle it out in the Nicholson Cup grand final on Saturday morning at Macquarie University.
- Tags: Andrew Purchas, Bingham Cup, Blaze, Discrimination, Football, Homophobia, John Eales, Julia Gillard, MCV, Queensland Pride, Rugby, Rugby Union, Sports, SX, Sydney Convicts
Comments (12)
I wanna know, who is controlling Julia? She is so two-faced, and I'm so confused. God, people we need to vote for someone new.
It's usually pretty hard to get rid of an incumbant govt.
'Elections are for govts. to lose and oppositions to gain.'
Though being so FRAUDULENT and INAUTHENTIC, Gillard has just about alienated every group within society.
Why do a pre-postmortem on Gillard? We're getting Abbott!
To Dave.
lol....Like an accomplished pro, she's done everybody!!!
Where can the poor bitch turn?
I don't beleive that there a single soul in Oz that can take her seriously.
The scarey bit is I can barely look at the TV when she's fondling the kiddies for photo ops, it makes my skin crawl.
And the sad part is I don't think she knows who she is anymore?
But that's the price of selling out your values and being a fake.
The chickens really do come home to roost.
She has had the chance of a lifetime, that some of us can only dream of, to lead and make Australia a better place.
Thats the real tragedy for all of us, the incredible waste of political capital and to have not changed people's lives and made a difference. Now we are faced with majority conservative govt.s at a state and federal level for at least 10 years.
I feel sorry for Australia and most certainly NOT FOR HER OR HER PARTY.
I have been really hurt with Gillard's spite at marriage equality. Then we saw her become the speaker at the hate cult, the ACL, then we saw her pullout demolishing them publicly. Now she is championing the gay World Rugby Cup. Finally some promising signs are emerging. Could this be a return to Labor values or the breeze of an election blowing? Poor cynical me wonders.....
To Stuart Baanstra
Australia has compulsory voting unlike the UK or the US
and if we tally up the percentage of queer voters it would be btw 6-10 percent.
If out queer libs are being elected it may be b/c they have mass appeal?
It is NOT necessarily an indication that they have the pink vote.
And I would remind you that that gay ppl. are just as capable of trading in their values and queer credentials for the 'power drug' as anyone else.
Of course Bob Brown would NOT be in that catagory.
Some closeted gays have voted for homophobic legislation or that which inhibits human rights.
JackAlison, "compulsive voting"? Shove it! I didn't vote in the Heffron by-election because their wasn't anyone worth voting for. And they can shove their fine. I'll just add them to the list of government departments wanting a piece of me.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
It must be election time?
Or is Rudd getting too close to a takeover?
Chastising Jim Wallace and supporting Gay Rugby in less than a week!!!!
This desperate creature is a horror of a human being.
There are no words that can describe the utter hypocrisy of her vid.
At NO time has she ever endorsed, celebrated or spoken about Gay culture in a positive way.
Like the former Premier of QLD, Anna Bligh, she will leave gay law reform to the last minute before being unceremoniously dumped from office for the FRAUD that she is and then the Libs will overturn it.
Nice one, PM Gillard, keep dreaming, gay people are are not that stupid.
But one thing is sure it will be CITIZEN Gillard before very much longer.
Credit where credit is due, she might not have done it before - but she is starting to show some positive signs. Let's hope these small steps continue, and as the saying goes... from little things, big things grow...
I'd imagine the safest thing she could have done about supporting the Bingham Cup would to have said nothing. For just as many on this site support those who stand up for us, i'm sure others who voted based on her anti-gay marriage stance will be less impressed.
Good luck Convicts!
Don't forget, JackAlison, with the LNP landslide in NSW and Queensland, and support for queer liberals, Christine Forster and Edward Mandla, there's a lot of LGBTI people voting conservative.
So true, no more need to be said
Sorry but Gillard just does what her spin doctors tell her - no credibility there just a fake looking at the cheapest way to get votes. If there wasnt votes in it Gillard wouldnt do it, If Gillard was sincere we would have equal rights now but no.