Rugby joins the Premier League in 'SCRAPPING Rainbow Laces initiative' - and 'prepares to launch its own campaign' after severing ties with anti-discrimination charity Stonewall

Premiership Rugby has reportedly joined football in severing ties with anti-discrimination charity Stonewall and its Rainbow Laces campaign.

Last Thursday, the Premier League decided to ditch rainbow armbands and laces in a meeting attended by all 20 of English football's top-flight club captains.

As a result, the governing body terminated its eight-year partnership with Stonewall just days ahead of the new 2025-26 campaign.

Now, according to the Telegraph, Premiership Rugby has followed suit by ending its partnership with the charity, with plans to launch and promote a new LGBTQ+ initiative. 

The newspaper claims that Premiership Rugby is close to naming a new charity partner, having stopped promoting the Rainbow Laces campaign midway through last season. 

Stonewall, which launched its Rainbow Laces campaign in Premier League football back in 2013, has been the subject of a crisis in recent years which has even led to one of its founders turning against it.

After a Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 determined that only biological women are women, Stonewall founder Simon Fanshawe urged bosses to abandon the LGBTQ+ charity due to its long-standing championing of trans rights.

'Employers can now take advice from the highest court in the land rather than from Stonewall and other lobby groups,' Fanshawe, one of six activists who set up the charity, said after the court ruling.

'Previously, in trying to become a Stonewall "Diversity Champion", businesses have often gone beyond the law.

'I would say that businesses should now ignore Stonewall, focus on the judgment, and that way be absolutely clear that their policies are in line with the Equality Act.'

The Premier League, Football Association and Premiership Rugby are the most high-profile sports organisations to sever ties with Stonewall amid its endorsement of gender ideology.

Top flight football's scrapping of rainbow armbands comes eight months after Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi, a devout Christian, scrawled 'I love Jesus' and 'Jesus loves you' across his in consecutive Premier League matches.

The England international did so despite breaching the FA's kit regulations and was subsequently reminded of his duty to stick by them. 

Guehi was not alone in disagreeing with rainbow armbands, with Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy refusing to wear his altogether.

The Premier League reportedly plans to launch its new campaign to promote inclusivity in line with LGBTQ+ History Month in February. 

In last Thursday's meeting, the 20 Premier League captains agreed to continue taking the knee prior to kick off, despite the Lionesses refusing to do so in the wake of Jess Carter stepping away from social media after being targeted with a stream of racist abuse online.