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.  

Claire Purdy (@Purdy_C) is a former England international rugby player and captain of the side. Winning 43 caps for England over the course of her career, she was part of the squad which won both the World Cup and BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year in 2014.

Kate Rowan (@KateLouiseRowan) 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

Podcasts

We aim to make all LSE events available as a podcast subject to receiving permission from the speaker/s to do this, and subject to no technical problems with the recording of the event. Podcasts are normally available 1-2 working days after the event. Podcasts and videos of past events can be found online.