Jozi Cats

Last updated

Jozi Cats
Founded2015
Location Johannesburg, South Africa

Jozi Cats is a South African gay and inclusive rugby club founded in 2015 and based in Johannesburg. The club is Africa's first gay and inclusive rugby club. [1]

Contents

History

The club was founded in 2015. During 2016 the club launched a recruitment campaign challenging homophobic slurs and stereotypes. The campaign, which attracted international attention, features posters of team members accompanied by words such as "queen", "fairy" and "pansy". [2] [3]

The club has toured towns and cities across South Africa such as Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Stellenbosch spreading the message of tolerance and inclusiveness in sport. [4]

In April 2017, after gaining the sponsorship of Exclusive Books, the largest book-selling chain in South Africa the Jozi Cats became the first non-European club invited to participate in the biennial Union Cup which was held in Madrid. [5]

Media Launch

With a small number of members, and difficulty the recruiting sponsors or number of members needed to be taken seriously as a rugby club, then-Chairman Teveshan Kuni approached then head-of Havas Public Relations Chris Verrijdt to see if some media attention could be generated to help bolster numbers. Verrijdt created the "Rugby That's So Gay!" campaign that focused on the same ideals the team were founded upon; an all-inclusive rugby team that uniquely addressed the issue of homophobia by way of sports.[ citation needed ]

The media campaign, which consisted of seven images of current players accompanied by a homophobic slur, and a group image announcing the name of the campaign was a success - grabbing the attention of over 315 million people in over 126 countries and was picked up by many international news outlets including Australia, [6] United States of America, [7] and a large amount of support via social media.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Cohen (rugby union)</span> England international rugby union player

Ben Christopher Cohen, is an English activist and former rugby player. He began his professional career with Northampton Saints in 1996; in 2007 he moved to France to represent Brive before returning to England two years later to join Sale Sharks. Cohen was a member of the England team that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup. His main position was winger. In May 2011, Cohen retired from professional rugby. He founded The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation to combat homophobia and bullying.

Girlie men is a pejorative term that was notably used by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to characterize opponents in the state legislature of California over the state budget.

The Queer Youth Network (QYN) was a national non-profit-making organisation that was run by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people and is based in the United Kingdom. It had an aim to represent the needs and views of younger LGBT people by campaigning for greater visibility and equal rights, as well as providing general support and information to those who are just coming out or who are experiencing homophobia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Roberts (rugby league)</span> Australian rugby league footballer, and actor

Ian Roberts is a British-born Australian actor, IT managed services consultant and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative forward, he played club football with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Wigan, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and North Queensland Cowboys. In 1995 Roberts became the first high-profile Australian sports person and first rugby footballer in the world to come out to the public as gay.

San Francisco Fog Rugby Football Club (RFC), also known as "The Fog", is a rugby union football club in San Francisco, California. It is the first such team in the western United States established specifically to actively reach out to traditionally under-represented groups in rugby, such as people of color, gay men, and women. It welcomes players who do not fit into those categories. The club has over 100 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rikki Beadle-Blair</span> British actor and director

Richard Barrington "Rikki" Beadle-Blair MBE is a British actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, singer, designer, choreographer, dancer and songwriter of British/West Indian origin. He is the artistic director of multi-media production company Team Angelica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homosexuality in English football</span> Presence of gay and lesbian players in English football

Homosexuality in English football has been described as a taboo subject by both players and the media. As of 2022, there is only one openly gay male footballer in England's top four men's divisions, Jake Daniels, a forward for Blackpool F.C. Some, such as Peter Clayton, who chairs the FA's "Homophobia in Football" working group, have argued that, in some clubs, there are barriers to male players "coming out", as they are commercial assets which may be damaged.

LGBT representations in hip hop music have existed since the birth of the genre even while enduring blatant discrimination. Due to its adjacency to Disco, the earliest days of hip hop had a close relation to LGBT subcultures, and multiple LGBT DJs have played a role in popularizing hip hop. Despite this early involvement, hip hop has long been portrayed as one of the least LGBT-friendly genres of music, with a significant body of the genre containing homophobic views and anti-gay lyrics, with mainstream artists such as Eminem and Tyler, the Creator having used homophobia in their lyrics. Attitudes towards homosexuality in hip hop culture have historically been negative, with slang that uses homosexuality as a punchline such as "sus", "no homo", and "pause" being heard in hip hop lyrics from some of the industry's biggest artists. Since the early 2000s there has been a flourishing community of LGBTQ+ hip hop artists, activists, and performers breaking barriers in the mainstream music industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caledonian Thebans RFC</span> Rugby team

Caledonian Thebans Rugby Football Club is Scotland's leading inclusive rugby club and represents Scotland in international rugby union tournaments for inclusive teams.

Homophobia has been widespread in men's association football, also known as soccer, throughout the world.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other non-heterosexual or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) community is prevalent within sports across the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Gay Rugby</span> Umbrella organisation for rugby clubs

International Gay Rugby (IGR), formerly known as the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGRAB), is the umbrella organisation for the world's gay and inclusive rugby clubs. Based in London, UK, IGR is recognised by World Rugby as the representative organisation of the LGBT and inclusive rugby community, up to the point they both have signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining a commitment between the two organisations to work together to educate and eliminate homophobia in rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education and the LGBT community</span>

Historically speaking, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have not been given equal treatment and rights by both governmental actions and society's general opinion. Much of the intolerance for LGBT individuals come from lack of education around the LGBT community, and contributes to the stigma that results in same-sex marriage being legal in few countries (31) and persistence of discrimination, such as in the workplace.

Racism is a concern for many in the Western lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities, with members of racial, ethnic, and national minorities reporting having faced discrimination from other LGBT people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athlete Ally</span> American LGBTQ athletic advocacy group

Athlete Ally is a nonprofit LGBTQ athletic advocacy group based in the United States. They focus on making athletic communities more inclusive and less discriminatory and helping athletes to advocate for LGBTQ equality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discrimination against gay men</span> Prejudice, hatred, or bias toward gay men, male homosexuality, or men perceived to be gay

Discrimination against gay men, sometimes called gayphobia, is a form of homophobic prejudice, hatred, or bias specifically directed toward gay men, male homosexuality, or men who are perceived to be gay. This discrimination is closely related to femmephobia, which is the dislike of, or hostility toward, individuals who present as feminine, including gay and effeminate men. Discrimination against gay men can result from religion, prejudicial reactions to one's feminine mannerisms, styles of clothing, and even vocal register. Within the LGBT-community, internalized issues around meeting social expectations of masculinity have been found among gay, bisexual, and transgender men. Gayphobia is misandry that intersects with homophobia. It's analogous to lesbophobia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Ball (activist)</span> Australian rules footballer and activist

Jason Ball is an Australian LGBTI and mental health advocate and former political candidate. In 2012, he came out as gay, and launched a campaign to tackle homophobia in Australian rules football. He stood for the Australian Greens as a candidate in the House of Representatives seat of Higgins at the 2016 Federal election and 2019 Federal election. In 2017 he was named the Young Australian of the Year for Victoria.

Homophobia in ethnic minority communities is any negative prejudice or form of discrimination in ethnic minority communities worldwide towards people who identify as–or are perceived as being–lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), known as homophobia. This may be expressed as antipathy, contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, irrational fear, and is sometimes related to religious beliefs. A 2006 study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in the UK found that while religion can have a positive function in many LGB Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, it can also play a role in supporting homophobia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time for Inclusive Education</span>

Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) is a charity and which has a stated aim of addressing prejudice and bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people with education in Scotland’s schools. The charity is overseen by a Board, chaired by Rhiannon Spear and Tiffany Kane, and delivers services in schools across Scotland.

The Gay and Lesbian Organization of Witwatersrand (GLOW) was a non-governmental organization in South Africa that focused on gay and lesbian community issues.

References

  1. "Jozi Cats: Africa's first gay rugby club has an important role to play in SA - Daily Maverick". www.dailymaverick.co.za. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  2. Gary Morley; David McKenzie. "Africa's first gay rugby team tackles homophobia". CNN.
  3. "South Africa's rugby team Jozi Cats defy gay stereotypes". Miami Herald .
  4. "Rugby club Jozi Cats tour against homophobia in sports". 702.
  5. "Jozi Cats head to Spain for historic gay rugby tour - MambaOnline - Gay South Africa online". 24 April 2017.
  6. "Africa's first gay rugby team is tackling stereotypes in a provocative way". Topics. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  7. "This Rugby Team Wants To Recruit New Players...With Anti-Gay Slurs". Huffington Post South Africa. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2017.