Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how does the Government plan to support the development of inclusive frameworks that respect both participation rights and competitive fairness for the LGBTQ+ community in rugby union.

Sport must be open to everyone. There is absolutely no place for homophobia, or discrimination of any kind, in sport or society.

The Government expects sports bodies, including rugby governing bodies, to take robust action to tackle discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs. The Government will continue to work with National Governing Bodies and sector organisations to fight all forms of discrimination at all levels of sport.

Through the Sports Council’s Equality Group, UK Sport and Sport England provide guidance on transgender inclusion in domestic sport to our National Governing Bodies. It makes clear that inclusion, fairness, and safety cannot always be balanced in gender-affected sport.

Under the UK Sport and Sport England Code for Sports Governance, National Governing Bodies at Tier 3 are required to publish and maintain a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan to receive public funding. This framework serves as the accountability mechanism to demonstrate commitment to diversity and inclusion.