In February 2020, Harlequins became the first professional rugby club to host an LGBTQ+ Pride game. Held on February 15th, the game was designed to be a celebration of diversity in rugby and an opportunity for the club to demonstrate support for the LGBTQ+ community within the sports space and society at large. By hosting the game, Harlequins further signalled their commitment to making rugby an inclusive environment and that the club welcomed supporters from all backgrounds.

In addition to the club’s matchday commitment, The Harlequins Foundation partnered with Monash University to conduct historic research into the prevalence of sexist and homophobic language in community rugby clubs.

At the Steelers, we are delighted to see the work continue, with the activities The Harlequins Foundation have led on and are planning. This includes next week's free virtual panel on tackling inequality which our chair Matt Webb will be speaking on with some other great panellists and hosted by friend of the club Nick Heath. Details of the event can be found HERE so please join us.

"The visibility that is provided through the simple things like changing the social media images to include the rainbow and highlighting the work being done in the wider community is vital" said Steelers chair Matt of The Harlequins Foundations work.

"It would be easy to say after the game last year and with the global pandemic, we've done our bit so that's ok. However The Harlequins Foundation has demonstrated its deep rooted commitment to making our sport inclusive for all and we applaud them for it"

As well as the upcoming virtual panel discussion a video about our club has featured on Harlequins social media and website signalling the work they have been doing, which can be found HERE

We are grateful to The Harlequins Foundation for their ongoing support and look forward to continuing our relationship with the club in the coming months and years.

Come on you Quins!

#COYQ