Competitors at 2014 Bingham Cup in Sydney, Australia (Photo: Bingham Cup/Erik Denison)
A throng of LGBT and allied rugby players has descended upon the city of Nashville for Memorial Day Weekend. More than 1,300 rugby players and supporters from 42 club teams and 11 different countries are in the midst of competing for the ultimate prize: first place in the Bingham Cup, an annual event that serves as the world championship for gay rugby teams.
Named in honor of Mark Bingham, a gay rugby player who helped found two gay rugby teams in San Francisco and New York who was killed on United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001, the annual tournament is awarded to host teams by International Gay Rugby (IGR), the governing body of the sport. IGR hopes that the cup, and other tournaments, will help increase visibility and foster an environment where LGBT players and fans are welcome. IGR has previously worked with World Rugby, USA Rugby and other national unions to combat homophobia in the sport, among both players and fans.
“This is an exciting time for our IGR athletes, coaches, referees and supporters,” Jeff Wilson, IGR’s chairman, said in a statement. “We are delighted to bring the Bingham Cup Tournament back to the USA for the first time in six years and look forward to the largest and best gay and inclusive rugby tournament ever presented. Both Nashville and the campus environment of Vanderbilt University provide our participants with an open and accepting environment, with many sights and attractions off the pitch.”
This year’s selection of the Nashville Grizzlies rugby club as the host team marks the first time the tournament has been held in the Mid-South, providing an economic boom to the city. According to organizers, over 6,000 hotel and dorm stays have been booked by out-of-town guests, and official events off the field will bring in money to local bars and restaurants throughout Nashville. D.C. has a significant presence at the event, with two gay rugby teams, the Scandals and the Renegades, who will compete for the championship this weekend.
The choice of Nashville is particularly interesting given the defeat of an anti-transgender “bathroom bill” at the same time that Gov. Bill Haslam decided to sign into law a bill allowing therapists and counselors to refuse to treat LGBT clients. Nonetheless, city officials have made it clear that Nashville, at least, is more welcoming and accepting of the LGBT community than other parts of the state. Mayor Megan Barry praised IGR and its promotion of tolerance and respect for diversity, saying those values represent “exactly the type of atmosphere we have worked so hard to create — and will continue to defend — here in Nashville, with a thriving LGBTQ+ community that strengthens the fabric of our city.”
The actual games are being held at Ted Rhodes Park from May 27 through May 29, with closing ceremonies on Sunday evening. Proceeds from the event will go to benefit the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network (TSPN), which will also be hosting anti-bullying and suicide prevention classes throughout the weekend.
“This year’s tournament marks the return of the Bingham Cup to the United States and its first ever trip to the South,” Jon Glassmeyer, the chairman of the Bingham Cup Organizing Committee, said in a statement. “We hope you will enjoy some southern food, plenty of live music, and revel in the rugby brotherhood with over 1,200 players from around the globe.”
Editor’s Note: Contributing writer Fallon Forbush also contributed to this report.
WorldPride participants share why Pride still matters, what issues drive them, and why visibility remains vital in today’s political climate.
By André Hereford, Ryan Leeds, and John Riley
June 21, 2025
WorldPride DC on Sunday, June 8, 2025 - Photo: Randy Shulman / Metro Weekly
Interviewed on Saturday and Sunday, June 7 and 8, 2025, at the WorldPride Street Festival, Parade, and March for Freedom.
Nic Ashe
Los Angeles, Ca.
Queer, He/Him
Why did you come to WorldPride?
I've been following WorldPride through the lens of Black queerness, namely with a focus on Christianity and religion. Early in my life, when I think about the first times that I was learning that queer may be a pejorative or that being gay was "not good," it was through my church upbringing. So I was very curious to find if there were examples in 2025 of those two oxymoronic opposing forces existing in harmony.
Chris Kostka, a gay man visiting Provincetown, Massachusetts, was walking along Bradford Street between 1 and 2 a.m. on Monday, June 30, when, near Howland Street at the town’s eastern end, three men shoved him to the pavement and began kicking him while yelling anti-gay slurs.
"All of a sudden I just feel myself getting pushed to the ground," Kostka told Boston NBC affiliate WBTS-CD. "I fly forward and I turn. I see three guys, and of course, I'm stunned from just being thrown to the pavement, and I just cover my face, go into a fetal position as I'm getting kicked and getting called some gay slurs."
A masked assailant threw a sharp rock through the front window of a gay couple's home in Northeast D.C., striking one of the men in the head.
The attack occurred last Friday in the city’s Kingman Park neighborhood, just as WorldPride weekend festivities were set to begin.
Surveillance video captured the assault. In the footage, a masked individual approaches the couple’s house -- decorated with rainbow Pride flags in the front yard -- and hurls a rock through the front window before fleeing. A cry can be heard from inside the home.
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