NFL Players Speak Up About Same-Sex Marriage [Sex in the News]

By Leah

Football players probably aren’t the first ones to come to mind when you think about same-sex marriage supporters. But over the last week, we’ve seen Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings defend Brendon Ayanbadejo of the Baltimore Ravens for speaking up.

See, Ayanbadejo has been openly supporting same-sex marriage for a while. Last year he spoke up in a Marylanders for Marriage Equality video, and more recently he donated Ravens’ tickets to a fundraiser for the organization. Of course this wouldn’t have been a big deal unless Maryland state delegate, Emmett C. Burns Jr. hadn’t tried to silence Ayanbadejo by writing an official letter to the Ravens’ owner. Yes, Burns requested that the owner “inhibit such expressions from your employee,” suggesting that no other NFL player was speaking out in a way Ayanbadejo did.

While you may have expected a homophobic culture within the NFL, it was Kluwe that proved people wrong by jumping to Ayanbadejo’s side in an open letter to Burns on Deadspin.com. Proving football players are not just a pile of muscles and, you know, actually have opinions about things.

Kluwe reminded the politician about the First Amendment in his letter and that football players and coaches in the fifties and sixties fought against segregation in the sport. While his letter didn’t have the most tact (“shove it in your close-minded, totally lacking in empathy piehole and choke on it. Asshole.” is just an example), it certainly proves a point.

So, what do you think? Should football players keep silent on issues that are important to them?

Leah graduated from Ryerson University with her Bachelor of Journalism. She’s currently interning at a design magazine in Toronto and spending her spare time baking tasty cupcakes. You can follow her @ElleandBee.

[lead image via startribune.com]