Ever wanted to go on a date with a rugby player? Well, now’s your chance!
The Gotham Knights Rugby Football Team is hosting a bachelor auction with the gay social networking website Hornet on July 26 at 7 p.m. at the birthplace of the gay rights movement, the Stonewall Inn. The Knights are New York’s only gay/inclusive rugby team who play in the International Gay Rugby league.
“One of my favorite sayings about rugby is that it’s a hooligan sport played by gentlemen,” says David Clarke, member of the Gotham Knights and one of the eligible bachelors.
Drag queen Mya Butthurtz will begin the night with a performance then emcee the auction, which is free to attend. The bachelors are “encouraged to do whatever it takes to keep the bidding going,” according to Clarke.
Ten members of the Gotham Knights will be auctioned, along with one surprise bachelor.
Not only will the highest-bidding guest walk away with a date with a hot rugby player, they will also win an exciting night out on the town. Date packages — which the guys could customize — include tickets to a Broadway musical, a wine tasting tour and more.
The Knights invite everyone to attend and bid on the bachelors “regardless of age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, religious views or country of origin,” as inclusion and diversity are the principles on which the team was founded.
“I think that’s one of the benefits we have, being a social team,” Clarke says. “We take our competitions very seriously, but we also take that aspect of being a safe and social place for everyone seriously as well.”
The Gotham Knights are raising money to fund their trip to the next Bingham Cup, the World Cup of gay rugby, which is being held in Amsterdam in the summer of 2018. The Gotham Knights are currently ranked second nationally and fifth internationally.
“The Knights have a desire to make rugby as inclusive as a sport as possible,” Clarke says, “to get gay men and even trans men interested in the sport and out there on the field.”
