Steelers: The World's First Gay Rugby Club

Through individual experiences and narratives this documentary shows what a positive impact this club has had on just a few of its members. It's literally saved people's lives and continues to have an impact on generations of gay men in London.

Well it opened my eyes to understanding the challenges others have had to go through and how easy it has been for my life. What a coach, she was just brilliant - I listened to the review on @distantpod and they really summed it up well.

You'll be laughing, you'll be crying and by the end of this brilliant documentary you'll be smiling. An emotional and powerful documentary with stories that resonate with everyone. This isn't a rugby documentary or a documentary about being gay, it's a film about acceptance, happiness and love. 10/10.

Absolutely loved this documentary! The stories of these individuals, what they've been through, what they've overcome and how they all come together to form this fantastic rugby team was just so well told. It was emotional, heartbreaking and uplifting. 10/10.

Steelers: the World's First Gay Rugby Club (2020) is an English documentary written and directed by Eammon Ashton-Atkinson. Rugby is a very physical game, and the players don't wear protective gear. If you have the stereotype that gay men can't play rugby, think again. The Steelers are an all-gay team, and they are tough. Director Ashton-Atkinson is a member of the team, but an injury kept him from playing for the Bingham Cup, which is the most important tournament in gay rugby. We follow, two players--Simon Jones and Andrew McDowell. Most interesting to me was the coach, Nic Evans. She is a former rugby player and a lesbian. However, she encounters misogyny even from the gay men. The question to be answered is whether the Steelers can win the Bingham Cup. They were the first gay rugby club, and they're an excellent club, but they've never won the Bingham Cup. We learn at the start of the movie that the Steelers reached out to straight rugby clubs at the beginning. However, they were rebuffed. Now they apparently play only other gay teams. I learned from Wikipedia (not the movie) that gay clubs do play straight clubs, and that some clubs are "inclusive." Rugby is definitely not my sport, but movies help you learn about matters outside your comfort zone. We saw this film as part of Rochester's great ImageOut LGBTQ Film Festival. It doesn't yet have enough ratings to be meaningful. I liked it, and rated it 8.