"Les Gaillards Paris Rugby Club" or "Les Gaillards Parisiens" is the first LGBT rugby team in France, created on 19 January 2004[1] and recognised as an association of general interest since 23 February 2023 by the Préfecture de Paris.

Les Gaillards
Full nameLes Gaillards Paris Rugby Club
Nickname(s)Les Gaillards
Founded2003
LocationParis, France
ChairmanVianney Mosser
Coach(es)Thibault Le Maistre
Maxence Blanc
Mathieu Bordaneil
Nicolas Carles
Captain(s)David Guardiola
Coline Siguier-Rigoni
League(s)FFSE Division 4
AFFR Division 3
IGR
Team kit

The association is a member of the Fédération sportive LGBT+[2] and of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board[3] with has over 70 member clubs.

History edit

Creation of the team and the name edit

"Les Gaillards" came into being informally during April 2003 through a discussion on Yahoo Groupe, which allows the creation of web forums based on discussion topics. Fans of rugby union, all homosexuals, meet on a forum to share their difficulties in practising the sport in a context of homophobia, experienced by several of them.

Les Gaillards set themselves the goal of creating a collective that would enable members to play amateur rugby without suffering discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender. Anyone over the age of majority may join the group.

The Gaillards' first training session took place in the Bois de Vincennes on 1 November 2003.

Declaration to the Prefecture and first tournaments edit

The "Les Gaillards Parisiens" association was registered with the Paris Prefecture on 29 January 20041 , following the Constitutive Assembly held in Vincennes on 24 January 2004, with the aim of entering the AFFR championships for the Île-de-France region and the IGR. The same year, the association took part in the Bingham Cup in London.

From 5 to 7 May 2005, Montpellier's newly-formed LGBT team, Los Valents in collaboration with the IGR, organised the first Union Cup, in which Les Gaillards took part (3rd place).

In February 2007, the "Les Gaillards" brand and logo were registered with the INPI.

References edit

  1. ^ "Détail d'une annonce | Associations — Journal Officiel". www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  2. ^ "Les Gaillards". Fédération Sportive LGBT+ (in French). Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  3. ^ "Les Gaillards Paris Rugby Club". International Gay Rugby. Retrieved 2023-07-11.

External links edit