Teams from as far afield as Sydney in Australia have entered the competition, regarded as the world championship of gay and inclusive rugby, and over the next few days more than 1,300 players will gather in the southern state to compete for the prestigious trophy which was named in honour of Mark Bingham, a leading gay rugby player who died on United flight 93 on 9/11.
Bingham played for UC Berkley and San Francisco Fog – one of the founding members of International Gay Rugby (IGR) – and was also involved in the founding of New York-based Gotham Knights RFC at the time of his death.
Through events like the Bingham Cup and the close relationships enjoyed with World Rugby, USA Rugby and other national unions, IGR actively looks to fight homophobia and homophobic behaviour on and off the pitch. Only last March, World Rugby signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IGR to collaborate on the continued promotion of equality and inclusivity in rugby.
You know flight 93 was deliberately shot down by the US airforce once they realised it had been hijacked. Donald Rumsfield let it slip during one of his idiotic speeches.
If they're good enough to play at World Cups, why not in between?
