Gareth Thomas was back in Dublin yesterday to lend his support to The Union Cup, Europe’s biggest LGBT+ inclusive rugby tournament which takes place in the city for the first time on June 8th and 9th.
The Welsh and British and Irish Lions Star was among the first sports stars to come out as openly gay, ten years ago this year and has become a powerful advocate for an open approach to being who you are.
He was a keynote speaker at last week’s Federation of Irish Sport annual conference on inclusivity and it was announced yesterday that he would be taking part in a ‘Diversity in Sport’ live stream panel discussion on Facebook next week as part of the build-up to the tournament.
He will be joined by GAA referee David Gough and Lindsay Peat on the Union Cup Facebook page.
Leinster Rugby will be holding skill camps at DCU for the two days leading up to the competition and there will be a number of activations specific to the wide range of commercial backers which the tournament has pulled together.
Guinness painted their iconic gates at the St James’s Gate brewery in Rainbow colours this week and Bank of Ireland will host a special announcement and discussion next week around the support they are lending.
The Union Cup takes places over two days and will feature 45 teams from 15 countries. Tickets are available from www.unioncupdublin.ie and are priced at €10 for adult tickets and any profits go to Belong To LGBT youth services.
Image Credit: Bryan Keane, Inpho.ie
