IN SAN FRANCISCO, queer affinity groups seem to span any and all hobbies from choral singing to running and walking, even to swimming, crochet and Frisbee. These organizations offer more than just a pastime or the pursuit of a passion; they also work tirelessly to spread their credo of pride and acceptance.
In many places beyond the Bay Area bubble, however, groups like these are not even a thought.
Dany Samreth has been the head coach of The Fog, the San Francisco Fog Rugby Football Club, since 2014. The group was founded in 2000 as the second gay rugby club in the country at the time, second only to the Washington Renegades, the first to have a gay-inclusive rugby team. Samreth explained that The Fog has a vision to challenge queer people to “be their true queer selves while being awesome on the rugby pitch.”
The rugby club proves that those two things are not mutually exclusive.
Samreth continued, “It can help someone discover a piece of themselves that is aggressive, that is active,” tackling stereotypes, pushing against the heteronormative spaces of sports and providing a queer space where players can “still be able to be a fem queen and rock it on pitch.”
With home games on Treasure Island and practices at various pitches around San Francisco, the group meets twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The Fog competes mostly in the Northern California League, where they vie, yes, with other gay leagues, but nonqueer teams as well.
“I always get the feeling the straight teams play a little extra hard when they turn out to fight The Fog. And they still get their butts kicked by these queer men.”
Dany Samreth, San Francisco Fog head coach
For those new to the sport, the group also runs a beginners group entitled Pathway to Rugby, and this multi-week crash course is completely free. Their season runs from September to May.
Triumphs aren’t all measured in trophies
This contact sport is more than just skin deep. Samreth spoke to the stories he encounters with the members of the club where they feel they never had a place in sports. “So many queer people feel rejected by the sporting world — not here!”
The Fog is yet another queer group across the Bay Area with a comprehensive program that propels their message outside of an echo chamber and into the world. Much of the organization for these groups comes internally from volunteers, members, and staff.
For The Fog, Samreth has spearheaded the varied victories for the team. Some of those are literal, including a noteworthy victory at the 2025 North America Cup rugby championship in Boston in early June. Bringing home the gold, this win marked the club’s first major tournament win in 12 years.
Other victories are less tangible than a trophy. The group faces its fair share of discrimination. Samret stated, even within the Northern California area but especially while touring, “teams would flat out refuse to play with us.”
Aside from stark refusals, Samreth recounts multiple times where slurs were thrown out on the field. “I always get the feeling the straight teams play a little extra hard when they turn out to fight The Fog. And they still get their butts kicked by these queer men.”
No matter the hardship, Samreth concluded, “I think for all of us at The Fog, this is a family. A big sporting family! And together I truly think playing these straight guys can change their mind.”
The post San Francisco queer rugby team The Fog tackles stereotypes in hard-hitting sport appeared first on Local News Matters.