Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe on Friday entered the controversy surrounding a Maryland lawmaker’s attempts to stifle Baltimore Ravens’ linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo’s support for marriage equality.
Ayanbadejo was targeted last week by Maryland General Assembly Delegate Emmett C. Burns, who sent a letter to Raven’s owner Steve BisciottIn his letter, denouncing Ayanbadejo’s support of same-sex marriage.
In his letter, Burns said the Ravens should “take the necessary action … to inhibit such expressions from your employees.”
Now, in an open letter published on Deadspin, Kluwe — also a supporter of marriage equality who has done several campaign ads for Minnesotans for Equality — had his own harsh words for Burns, calling hims an “Asshole,” and his comments a “colossal foot in mouth clusterfuck.”
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“I find it inconceivable that you are an elected official of Maryland’s state government. Your vitriolic hatred and bigotry make me ashamed and disgusted to think that you are in any way responsible for shaping policy at any level.
[…]
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?
[…]
“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, as someone who’s “deeply involved in government task forces on the legacy of slavery in Maryland”?
[…]
I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life. They won’t come into your house and steal your children. They won’t magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster. They won’t even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as the other 90 percent of our population…
The full text of Kluwe’s letter is at Deadspin.com.
In an interview with Outsports.com earlier this year, Kluwe said, “I’ve always believed that people are inherently the same and should have the same rights and equal protection under the law. It really doesn’t matter what you do with who or whom as long as you’re not infringing on someone else’s rights. Everyone should be free to live their own life however it makes them happy.”
Voters in both Minnesota and Maryland will consider ballot initiatives in November relating to marriage equality.
The Minnesota measure asks voters to approve a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage; the Maryland initiative asks voters to approve or reject the state’s recently passed marriage equality law.