Will Multiple NFL'ers Come Out As Gay At Once?

From the Baltimore Sun: 

"I think it will happen sooner than you think," [Brendon] Ayanbadejo said. "We're in talks with a handful of players who are considering it. There are up to four players being talked to right now and they're trying to be organized so they can come out on the same day together. It would make a major splash and take the pressure off one guy. It would be a monumental day if a handful or a few guys come out. 

"Of course, there would be backlash. If they could share the backlash, it would be more positive. It's cool. It's exciting. We're in talks with a few guys who are considering it. The NFL and organizations are already being proactive and open if a player does it and if something negative happens. We'll see what happens."

Ayanbadejo, who has been an outspoken advocate for LGBT equality and gays in the NFL, was released by the Baltimore Ravens.

Face the Nation's Roundtable on Marriage Equality

Tweet of the Day: March 5, 2013

Super Bowl Champ Talks LGBT Equality

Marriage Equality At The Super Bowl

My team is the Green bay Packers. Things were looking good for them to make another playoff run to the Super Bowl. However, a loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round put an end to that hope. There is always next year I suppose...

I have no particular love or hatred for either team that will be playing in this year's Super Bowl: the aforementioned 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. Being a fan and watcher of the Super Bowl itself however, I need to find a tie so that I have a team to cheer for to make this game more interesting.

Enter Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo.

Over the past year, Brendon has been an outspoken advocate for marriage equality. This was particularly pertinent given that the state of his football fan base, Maryland, had marriage equality on the ballot in this past November's election. Brendon put himself in the midst of that fight in a very public way. Luckily, his side was victorious and marriage is now the law in Maryland.

Within hours of the ravens defeating the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship, which got them their Super Bowl berth, Brendon was emailing marriage equality advocates about how to use the media surrounding the big game to advance equality for gay people*. Even with all of the work that he will have to put in over the next week and a half to prepare for the biggest game of his career thus far, he still intends to make time to deal with marriage equality, bullying, and homophobia in sports. There will be tons of media on him, his fellow teammates, and his opponents in the run-up to the Super Bowl, and Brendon plans on using his elevated platform to affect change in all of the right ways. One of his goals is to appear on Ellen DeGeneres' show with his message, and of course, a Super Bowl ring.

With all of that side, I am officially throwing my hat in with the Baltimore Ravens again (I was with them for the AFC championship against the New England Patriots but that was an apolitical decision, I just don't like the Patriots). Good luck to Brendon and the rest of the Baltimore Ravens.

*Source

Ravens' Ayanbadejo on Marriage Equality

Maryland Delegate Relents

From Outsports:

Maryland politician Emmett C. Burns Jr. has taken a ton of criticism after he said the Baltimore Ravens should punish linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo for speaking out for same sex marriage. Burns, a Maryland House delegate opposed to a gay marriage bill awaiting voter OK this fall, has now changed his stance.

“Upon reflection, he has his First Amendment rights,” Del. Emmett C. Burns Jr., a Baltimore County Democrat, told the Baltimore Sun in a telephone interview. “And I have my First Amendment rights. … Each of us has the right to speak our opinions. The football player and I have a right to speak our minds.”

Technically, Burns (and those who ripped the politician) are wrong when they say this is a First Amendment issue. That deals only with the government restricting speech. The Ravens, being a private business, could have theoretically punished Ayanbadejo for speaking out and it would not have violated his constitutional rights.

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Ayanbadejo’s response to Burns has been low-key and the story did not get too much attention initially. Then, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe (himself a same-sex marriage supporter) wrote an obscenity-laced tirade against Burns on Friday that went viral, generating 1.6  million page views on Deadspin, being linked from dozens of sites and generating a bunch of related stories in the mainstream media, including a front page sports story in Sunday’s New York Times.

Tweet of the Day: September 7, 2012

As for Maryland Delegate Emmett Burns Jr. asking the Ravens franchise to silence Ayanbadejo on this issue, here is the Ravens' response:

I good day for freedom of speech.

Ravens Support Ayanbadejo's Free Speech

From the Ravens website:

The Ravens are standing behind free speech and linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo.

This week, Ayanbadejo sparked a political debate that began with same-sex marriage and has since branched into the freedom of speech.

Ayanbadejo has been a supporter of same-sex marriage for several years. He has tweeted about the issue, written a column for Huffington Post in 2009 and appeared in a pair of YouTube videos advocating for the cause, including for the organization Equality Maryland.

He most recently contributed a pair of Ravens tickets to a fundraiser for Marylanders For Marriage Equality. That upset Maryland Delegate Emmett Burns (Baltimore County), who addressed a letter to Ravens Owner Steve Bisciotti and asked him to intervene.

“Many of my constituents and your football supporters are appalled and aghast that a member of the Ravens Football Team would step into this controversial divide and try to sway public opinion one way or the other,” Burns wrote in a letter obtained by WBAL-TV.

“Many of your fans are opposed to such a view and feel it has no place in a sport that is strictly for pride, entertainment and excitement. I believe Mr. Ayanbadejo should concentrate on football and steer clear of dividing the fan base.”

Upon seeing the letter, Ayanbadejo said he was “shocked.”

“For him to be a delegate, I was kind of shocked that he would want to silence me and tell me to stick to football in a free country,” he said. “People have died to have those rights to be able to voice those opinions – no matter what their opinions are.”

After speaking with Bisciotti, President Dick Cass told BaltimoreRavens.com that they will write Burns a response.

“We support Brendon’s right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment,” Cass said.

Free speech wins the day!!!

NFL's Kluwe Backs Ayanbadejo Against MD Delegate

While I wrote one letter to Maryland Del. Emmett Burns Jr. in regards to his attempt to silence Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo for supporting marriage equality, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe was writing another. I made a point of trying to be diplomatic, Kluwe did not...which is why his letter is a lot more fun to read than mine. Via Deadspin:

1. As I suspect you have not read the Constitution, I would like to remind you that the very first, the VERY FIRST Amendment in this founding document deals with the freedom of speech, particularly the abridgment of said freedom. By using your position as an elected official (when referring to your constituents so as to implicitly threaten the Ravens organization) to state that the Ravens should "inhibit such expressions from your employees," more specifically Brendon Ayanbadejo, not only are you clearly violating the First Amendment, you also come across as a narcissistic fromunda stain. What on earth would possess you to be so mind-boggingly stupid? It baffles me that a man such as yourself, a man who relies on that same First Amendment to pursue your own religious studies without fear of persecution from the state, could somehow justify stifling another person's right to speech. To call that hypocritical would be to do a disservice to the word. Mindfucking obscenely hypocritical starts to approach it a little bit.

2. "Many of your fans are opposed to such a view and feel it has no place in a sport that is strictly for pride, entertainment, and excitement." Holy fucking shitballs. Did you seriously just say that,...

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3. This is more a personal quibble of mine, but why do you hate freedom? Why do you hate the fact that other people want a chance to live their lives and be happy, even though they may believe in something different than you, or act different than you? How does gay marriage, in any way shape or form, affect your life? If gay marriage becomes legal, are you worried that all of a sudden you'll start thinking about penis? "Oh shit. Gay marriage just passed. Gotta get me some of that hot dong action!" Will all of your friends suddenly turn gay and refuse to come to your Sunday Ticket grill-outs? (Unlikely, since gay people enjoy watching football too.)...

~

...In closing, I would like to say that I hope this letter, in some small way, causes you to reflect upon the magnitude of the colossal foot in mouth clusterfuck you so brazenly unleashed on a man whose only crime was speaking out for something he believed in. Best of luck in the next election; I'm fairly certain you might need it.

Sincerely,
Chris Kluwe

P.S. I've also been vocal as hell about the issue of gay marriage so you can take your "I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing" and shove it in your close-minded, totally lacking in empathy piehole and choke on it. Asshole.

I did not expect a response like this, but I'm glad it happened. These were just the choicer bits, but the whole thing is very much worth reading.

An Open Letter to Maryland Del. Emmett Burns

Dear Delegate Burns,

It has recently come to my attention that you are upset with Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo because of his public endorsement of marriage equality in Maryland (and elsewhere). After reading your letter to Ravens management, I feel compelled to correct you on several factual errors and omissions.

I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing.

First, Brendon Ayanbadejo is not the only NFL athlete to publicly endorse marriage equality. Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings has publicly denounced Minnesota's attempt to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Outside of the NFL, many other athletes support LGBT equality as well. LGBT equality aside, many other athletes, including football players, have taken a side on political issues and on political campaigns. Brendon is hardly a trend-setter in this regard. If you don't know something, it is probably better to do a little research on it before making statements that are undeniably false, for your own sake.

Many of my constituents and your football supporters are appalled and aghast that a member of the Ravens Football Team would step into this controversial divide and try to sway public opinion one way or the other.

Second, even though there are many Ravens fans who do not like what Brendon has done (and I don't deny that they exist), there are many others who greatly appreciate him for standing by equal protections under the law. You are categorically dismissing those folks as if their opinions don't matter. Make no mistake Del. Burns, their opinions DO matter. Just because some of your constituents do not agree with you does not mean they should be ignored, which is what you appear to be doing.

I am requesting that you take the necessary action, as a National Football League Owner, to inhibit such expressions from your employees and that he be ordered to cease and desist such injurious actions.

And lastly, regardless of anyone's stance on gay marriage, same-sex marriage, marriage quality, or whatever you want it called, there is ZERO denying that people have the right to express their opinion on this and any issue. Brendon was not on the field waving around a pride flag, nor was he acting as a spokesman for the Ravens franchise, he was speaking for himself and making his views known. In this country, we have a constitutionally recognized freedom of speech. The fact that you are attempting to suppress someone's freedom of speech is the most disturbing part of this entire incident and I'm not alone in that sentiment. Disagree with Brendon all you like (it's your right after all), but do you really think he doesn't have the right to voice his opinion? Before he is a football player, he is a citizen or Maryland and of the United States. I believe that Brendon's response via Twitter was perfectly worded: