Tackling Sexism and Homophobia in Rugby

A pioneering discussion of discrimination in rugby, from the grass-roots right through to the international level. Drawing upon the experiences and endeavours of some of those at the forefront of progress, the debate explores the challenges rugby faces when trying to stamp out prejudice based on sexuality and gender.

Pedro Dias Ferreira is the current club captain of the Kings Cross Steelers (@KXSteelers), and has been a member of the club for 9 years. Founded in 1995, the Kings Cross Steelers is the world's first gay and inclusive rugby union club, a pioneering organisation for LGBT+ rights, and the current holders of the Union Cup.

Widely seen by many to be the best referee currently officiating in the world of rugby, Nigel Owens (@Nigelrefowens) is also the first openly gay man to referee at the highest level. In 2007 Nigel was named as Stonewall's 'Gay Sports Personality of the Year', and since coming out has spoken out many times in the media on LGBT+ issues.  

Kate Rowan is a sports journalist whose work features in the Irish Independent, the IRFU and World Rugby, among others. More recently, she has been working on the book Six Nations, Two Stories along with Peter O'Reilly, a book which follows both the Irish men's and women's winning Six Nations campaigns.

Heather Taylor (@HeatherTaylor21) is the NGB Account Manager for Sport England and a pioneer of the 'This Girl Can' campaign. The campaign uses social media to promote empowerment through women's sport, and currently has over 80 thousand followers on Twitter.

James Taylor (@Jamestaylor2) is currently the Head of Campaigns at Stonewall, Europe's largest LGBT+ rights organisation. In particular, James has coordinated the Rainbow Laces campaign for the last two years in professional football, among other campaigns to end homophobia in sport.

The LSE Athletics Union (@lse_au) represents over 40 sports clubs at LSE. The AU is currently running the AU for All Campaign which aims to promote inclusivity and tolerance at LSE by tackling the barriers that prevent people from participating in sport.

The LSE Men's Rugby Club has been involved in a process of reform over the last year, organising a social media campaign, hosting workshops and redesigning their club structure to promote a positive club culture and community outreach.  

The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Taskforce was established in September 2015 to conduct a root-and-branch review of EDI issues at the School, to generate policy proposals, and to initiate changes around the institutional architecture and campus culture in order to maximise equity, diversity and inclusion across the School.

Suggested hashtag for this event for Twitter users: #LSErugbyforall

This event is free and open to all LSE students and staff however a ticket is required, only one ticket per person can be requested.

LSE students and LSE staff can request one ticket via the online ticket request form which will be live on this listing from around 6pm on Monday 2 November until at least 12noon on Tuesday 3 November. If at 12noon we have received more requests than there are tickets available, the line will be closed, and tickets will be allocated on a random basis to those requests received. If we have received fewer requests than tickets available, the ticket line will stay open until all tickets have been allocated.

Please note, we cannot control exactly when the ticket line will upload, and publishing delays do sometimes occur. As the system now allows requests to be made over a long period of time, if when you visit this page the ticket line is not live, we would advise revisiting the page at a later time.

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This event has been certified for CPD purposes by the CPD Certification Service. Self-Assessment Record forms will be made available for delegates wishing to record further learning and knowledge enhancement for Continuing Personal and Professional Development (CPD) purposes. For delegates who wish to obtain a CPD Certificate of Attendance, it is the responsibility of delegates to register their details with a LSE steward at the end of the event and as of 1 September 2014 a certificate will be sent within 28 days of the date of the event attended by the CPD Certification Service.  If a delegate fails to register their details at the event, it will not prove possible to issue a certificate. (For queries relating to CPD Certificates of attendance after a request please phone 0208 840 4383 or email [email protected]).

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LSE has now introduced wireless for guests and visitors in association with 'The Cloud', also in use at many other locations across the UK. If you are on campus visiting for the day or attending a conference or event, you can connect your device to wireless. See more information and create an account at Join the Cloud.
Visitors from other participating institutions are encouraged to use eduroam. If you are having trouble connecting to eduroam, please contact your home institution for assistance.
The Cloud is only intended for guest and visitor access to wifi. Existing LSE staff and students are encouraged to use eduroam instead.