Coventry Corsairs Pride
Coventry Corsairs, the city’s first LGBTQ+ inclusive team who play their rugby at Coventrians RFC, having celebrated their second birthday, were a real presence at the recent Birmingham Pride.
Coventrians gave them a home so that they could move from a local park and their team proudly wear playing shirts bearing the straight allies flag.
Corsairs are proud to be part of the rugby family and were out promoting the sport in Birmingham as they enjoy a second season and one without so many challenges.
For Coventry Corsairs founder member and Number 8 Diego Dominguez Domenech, the club’s comradeship underscores the positive experience he has had of rugby in England. Having left the Spanish Air Force, Diego came to study at Solent University where he helped start Wessex Wyverns before moving to work in Reading and help found the Reading Renegades.
“Rugby and rugby clubs don’t care where you are from, if you want to play they offer support,” says Diego. “I’ve played in straight and gay teams, both have welcomed me. I’m in my thirties now but when guys of my age were growing up many didn’t have the courage to join sports teams.
“I didn’t even know what rugby was before coming to England, I’m from the Dominican Republic, but rugby has been awesome. Within a few weeks of us setting up in Coventry and launching a social media campaign, Coventrians were in touch and couldn’t do enough for us.
“They’ve been very welcoming and have helped us with numbers when we haven’t had enough players. They’ve been great, they just said ‘Come here to us, this is your place.’”
Coventrians RFU Secretary Michael Douglas said: “We want to reflect the whole of our community and are proud to encourage diversity and to create an environment where everyone can feel welcome.
“We invited Corsairs in when we discovered they were playing on Coventry’s War Memorial Park. We are trying to challenge the old rugby stereotypes and we’d like to think that in having such a diverse set of members we are making a difference.”
