Inside the rugby club 'sticking their neck out' to fly the flag for LGBT+ rights
Anyone travelling to Cougar Park in the northern town of Keighley on Sunday would have been greeted by an 'in your face' show of support for LGBT+ rights.
Keighley Cougars, who play in League One of the rugby league pyramid, have made a commitment to support the community over the past five years. That support has coincided with a takeover by husbands Ryan O'Neill and Kaue Garcia.
O'Neill has a long-held connection with the club, with his dad having been chairman during its heyday in the 1990s. With the Cougars facing financial troubles in late 2018, O'Neill and his partner Garcia decided to step in and save them.
In doing so, they became two of the highest visible LGBT+ people owning a sports team. Since taking over, the duo have done their utmost to make the Cougars unashamedly supportive of their community, something they felt a responsibility to do.
Speaking exclusively to Mirror Sport, O'Neill said: "We see it as having a small platform, but it is a platform and we want to do more than just put rugby players on the pitch. We've been through the trauma of being in the closet.
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"I just thought there'd be other kids in Keighley living the same experience, terrified of telling anybody, and if we can actually try to make it a bit more mainstream, something people can be proud of rather than fearful, we have this platform.
"This season we're concentrating more on trans rights. We feel that it's our responsibility to consider it more, be kinder to one another and understand that trans people need respect and acceptance. So this season is going to be more about that.
The charge is led by Kaue Garcia (second from right) and his husband and co-owner Ryan O'Neill (JT Sports Images)"We're expecting to get blowback about that because it's a current political issue and society hasn't come to terms with trans rights. So we're expecting some blowback but I say bring it on."
In the build-up to Sunday's game, the Cougars released a one-minute-twenty-two-second video showing the scale of the homophobic and transphobic abuse O'Neill and Garcia, as well as the team, face. But Garcia has insisted those comments only make him want to push harder for LGBT+ rights.
"We've owned the club for the last five years, we get constant abuse, it's not news. On 1 February we promoted a banner saying it's LGBT+ History Month and these are the reasons why it matters," Garcia said.
"Then the abuse came. So me and Ryan sat and decided to show why it is needed. Because there was a question there, a common question asking 'why do you involve the LGBT+ agenda with the rugby?' We sat and thought actually let's show why it matters so much.
"For people struggling with their identity, us putting up a rainbow flag or having a Pride dedicated terrace, it doesn't convert anyone into being gay. So it's that process of educating, especially because February is LGBT+ History Month.
"So we thought let's show the reality of what we have to face. It encourages us really. Rather than shutting us down, actually it motivates us to do more because it shows there's a lot of people with the stigma around the LGBT+ world, so let's do more."
The Cougars kicked off their pledge to do more for trans people on Sunday as they dedicated 1895 Cup game against fierce rivals Bradford Bulls to LGBT+ History Month. The build-up to the match included the unveiling of a 12×12metre flag which read ‘Trans Rights are Human Rights’.
The Cougars dedicated Sunday's game to LGBT+ History Month, with a massive 'Trans Rights Are Human Rights' flag being unfurled (JT Sports Images)O'Neill and Garcia also invited a young trans girl to be their special guest after her father approached the owners to thank them for their work. O'Neill added: "It's slow steps and we know we're sticking our necks out.
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"For this particular trans girl, her dad's a fan and he just sent me a message on Twitter saying 'thanks for putting this stuff out about trans rights, I have a trans daughter I'm really proud of and she gets bullied'.
"So we invited them down to Sunday's game for hospitality and I think it's amazing that this trans girl is coming into this supportive environment at a rugby club, I don't know if she likes rugby, but it's somewhere she can come and feel like she can be herself, she's not going to be judged.
"She's coming down from Newcastle so we're creating this environment where we're going that extra step to make sure everybody really is welcome. That coming at a rugby league club in the north of England really is special and I'm proud of that."
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