Brendon Ayanbadejo: Four Gay NFL Players Might Come Out Together

Joe.My.God. reports:

Via SB Nation, an interesting quote from Ayanbadejo: 

“I think it will happen sooner than you think. 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.”

In today’s interview with MSNBC, host Thomas Roberts brings up the above quote and asks Ayanbadejo about his history of LGBT activism and what may happen for him next.  Ayanbadejo was let go by the Baltimore Ravens yesterday, but he says that move was “just football” and unrelated to his advocacy to same-sex marriage.

New From Straight Ally & Super Bowl Champion For The Ravens, Brendon Ayanbadejo

49ers’ Players Say They Never Participated In “It Gets Better” Video (Even Though They’re In It)

The Huffington Post reports:

A series of anti-gay remarks made by San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver cast the Super Bowl-bound team in a negative light just days ahead of the NFL championship game.
Though Culliver has since apologized for the controversial statements, the backlash seems unlikely to dissipate now that a new wrinkle has emerged. The 49ers’ linebacker Ahmad Brooks and nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga, both of whom participated in the team’s widely-praised “It Gets Better” video last summer, have denied ever producing the clip.
The players told USA Today Sports that they didn’t realize the video’s aim was to specifically combat bullying experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens.
“This is America and if someone wants to be gay, they can be gay,” Brooks told the publication. “But I didn’t make any video.” Later, after he was reportedly shown the video on an iPhone, the player clarified, “Oh, that. It was an anti-bullying video, not a gay [rights] video.”
Even more curiously, Sopoaga also denied taking part in the clip, even as a teammate reportedly tried to jog his memory. “I never went,” he declared. “And now someone is using my name.”
LGBT rights activists have yet to respond to Brooks and Sopoaga’s claims. But the firestorm over Culliver’s statements (he told Artie Lange that he “don’t do the gay guys, man” and that an openly gay player would not be welcome on the 49ers) continues to rage, even though team officials have released a statement saying they “proudly support the LGBT community.”
Interestingly, Culliver’s comments initially came on the heels of news that former 49ers offensive tackle Kwame Harris was in court on assault charges from a former boyfriend. Though Harris last played for the 49ers in 2007, many former teammates quickly came to his defense in the media.
A petition has since been launched on change.org asking the NFL to send Culliver to spend a day with the New York Gay Football League.
“This will give him an opportunity to see that openly gay players perform just as well as heterosexual players,” the petition’s organizer, Christian Fuscarino, writes. “It will also allow him to ask questions and speak with members of the team.”

49ers Star Chris Culliver Not Down With Gays

Joe.My.God. reports:

“I don’t do the gay guys man. I don’t do that. No, we don’t got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do. Can’t be with that sweet stuff. Nah…can’t be…in the locker room man. Nah.” - San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver, who adds that players should only come out ten years after they leave the sport.  Culliver followed up yesterday’s Super Bowl Media Day interview with a charming tweet about menstruating women.

UPDATE: 49ers management has issued an apology. “The San Francisco 49ers reject the comments that were made yesterday, and have addressed the matter with Chris. There is no place for discrimination within our organization at any level. We have and always will proudly support the LGBT community.” 

UPDATE II: Culliver has apologized too. “The derogatory comments I made yesterday were a reflection of thoughts in my head, but they are not how I feel. It has taken me seeing them in print to realize that they are hurtful and ugly. Those discriminating feelings are truly not in my heart. Further, I apologize to those who I have hurt and offended, and I pledge to learn and grow from this experience.”

UPDATE III: Hudson Taylor’s Athlete Ally has issued a statement. 

“Chris Culliver’s comments are disrespectful, discriminatory and dangerous, particularly for the young people who look up to him. His words underscore the importance of the Athlete Ally movement and the key role that professional athletes play in shaping an athletic climate that affirms and includes gay and lesbian players. Culliver’s views are as marginal as they are misguided. We’re seeing more and more NFL players take a stand against homophobia in sports through our organization and we know that support at this level is only going to grow. Athlete Ally’s NFL Ambassadors Brendon Ayanbadejo of the AFC Champion Baltimore Ravens, Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings and Scott Fujita of the Cleveland Browns connect our organization and the NFL, help promote the mission to end homophobia in sports by speaking out to their teams, leagues and fan bases, and encourage their colleagues to join in the effort. It’s clear by their involvement and the incredible support they are receiving from NFL fans across the country that discrimination is on the fringe and has absolutely no place in sports.”

Beyonce To Play Super Bowl 2013

MINNESOTA: Chris Kluwe For Marriage Equality

Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue Donates $100K To Maryland Marriage Equality Campagin

The Washington Blade reports:

Former National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue on Tuesday announced that he and his wife have donated $100,000 to the campaign to defend Maryland’s same-sex marriage law.
“We had the privilege of raising our family in Maryland. We have the privilege of now living in the District of Columbia. We’ve lived in New York where they passed marriage equality. We spend time in the summer in Maine, where they are fighting it again. I think this is the time to view this not as an expense, but as a capital investment in our nation’s infrastructure,” he said during a Marylanders for Marriage Equality fundraiser that he and his wife Chan attended at gay Democratic lobbyist Steve Elmendorf’s Logan Circle home. The couple, whose son is gay, donated $8,500 to the campaign during a star-studded New York City fundraiser that former Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman and others hosted last month. “You pass it in the legislature, the will of the people has been expressed and you get litigation. In New York, they didn’t have to deal with it at the ballot, but now they’re attacking the Republican senators who supported it and one of them has now been defeated. At some point the tide has got to turn. You got to stop the litigation. You got to demonstrate that the litigation is not — the second guessing at the ballot box is not going to overcome the will of the legislature. At some point you’ve got to demonstrate that people who support this are going to be re-elected, and not get punished for supporting marriage equality. And I think right now is the time.”
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray were among those who attended the fundraiser.
Gay activist Peter Rosenstein presented O’Malley with a $10,000 check to Marylanders for Marriage Equality from the Campaign for All D.C. Families. The governor, who signed Maryland’s same-sex marriage bill into law in March, conceded that the campaign to defend it needs to raise $1 million before Election Day. He told a group of LGBT bloggers and reporters during a Sept. 24 conference call that Marylanders for Marriage Equality needed an additional $2 million ahead of the Nov. 6 referendum.
“This is by no means done,” said O’Malley. “And in your presence here tonight, I hope that when you leave here, you leave here committed to help us turn on the after-burners for the next 36 days.”
The fundraiser took place two days after the Baltimore Sun released a poll that shows 49 percent of likely Maryland voters support the state’s same-sex marriage law, compared to 39 percent who oppose it. A Gonzalez Research poll last week notes that 51 percent of Marylanders would back Question 6, compared to 43 percent who would vote against it. The same survey shows that 44 percent of black Marylanders support nuptials for gays and lesbians, compared to 52 percent who oppose them.
“We need to raise more money, that’s obvious, but I’m extremely optimistic that on Nov. 6 Maryland is going to be the next state in the fold of those who are supporting marriage equality in our nation,” said Gray, who referenced D.C.’s same-sex marriage law during his remarks.  “I can tell you know almost three years later in the District of Columbia, the world has not come to an end. Families have not dissolved. Children have not been harmed. There is not one untoward thing that has happened in the District of Columbia, but what has happened is that there are a lot of people who are happier today than they were over three years ago when they could not consummate their relationship in the way they had chosen.”
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.,) whose daughter came out to the Washington Blade in an exclusive interview in June, shared Gray’s optimism.He also applauded both O’Malley and President Obama for supporting same-sex marriage.
“I was very, very pleased to join with the governor and the president to say look; this is the civil rights issue of our day,” said Hoyer. “It’s not government’s job to tell people who to love. It’s not the government’s job. And we ought to accord the respect to them that we accord to others as well. If the pursuit of happiness is available to everybody, that means everybody. So I’m very pleased to be here with all of you. We’re going to win this issue. We’re going to win this issue mainly through the leadership of Martin O’Malley.”

Cover Of The Day: Chris Kluwe For Out Magazine

Chris Kluwe Goes Pro Marriage Equality, Slams Rep. Emmett Burns For Hating On Brendon Ayanbadejo For Pro LGBT Stand

Here’s the story:

 [Brendon Ayanbadejo’s] support of marriage equality has a Maryland lawmaker demanding that he receive a reprimand:

Emmett C. Burns Jr. sent a letter to Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, asking for the team to curb Ayanbadejo’s support of the issue. 

“I find it inconceivable that one of your players, Mr. Brendon Ayanbadejo would publicly endorse Same-Sex marriage, specifically as a Raven Football player. 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.

“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.,” Burns wrote. “I believe Mr. Ayanbadejo should concentrate on football and steer clear of dividing the fan base.

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

Ayanbadejo isn’t backing down. He tweeted the following:

“The fight is not about same sex marriage or interracial marriage or slavery or equal rights for women. The fight is for equality for all!”

and

Football is just my job it’s not who I am. I am an American before anything. And just like every American I have the right to speak!!!

By the way, here is a video of Ayanbadejo supporting marriage equality:

So now, Chris slams back at NOM and Rep. Burns, showing them that there’s more than one Straight Ally in the NFL.

San Francisco 49ers: It Gets Better

They are the first NFL team to join the project.

Stats Suggest That At Least 1 Player In This Pile Is Gay

BuzzFeed reports:

This provocative two-page spread leading into an article in the January 2012 issue of Philadelphia Magazine about the challenges of being openly gay in professional sports. The article by Robert Huber is well worth the read, but the image speaks volumes.
There are currently no openly gay athletes hailing from the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL, though a handful have come out after retiring.
The statistic referenced in the image is, according to Huber, the “generally accepted rule of thumb [that] suggests that 10 percent of the population is homosexual. There are more than 100 players currently on our four local pro teams. So it’s clear that whatever teams we get behind, some of the players we’re now applauding or booing are gay.”

The graphic pictured above does not appear alongside the online version of Huber’s piece.

NFL Rookies & Veterans Weigh In On Gay Players

The Advocate reports: 

Several current and retired NFL players say that they and their teammates are ready to welcome a gay player on their team.

Rookies Robert Griffin III, Trent Richardson, and Coby Fleener all agreed that it was time for the NFL to be more supportive of gay players.

Richarson, a two-time national champion for the University of Alabama, in a state that overwhelmingly passed a gay marriage ban in 2006, said he doesn’t care whether a teammate if be gay, and added that he has gay friends.

“I never pay attention to it,” Richardson said to Outsports.com last week at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere. “They do what they do. I don’t have a problem with them. As long as they’re playing good football and contributing to the team, I don’t have nothing to do with that. It is what it is. I don’t have any problem with any sexuality or whatever they’ve got going on. That’s them. That’s what they want to do. That’s their life.”

Retired player Jevon Kearse agreed. “In the game of football, it’s like a war out there,” he said. “Once you get out on the field, all that stuff is to the side. You’re on my side. I played in the NFL for 11 years, I’m sure there were at least one or two guys along the line that were gay.”

Meanwhile former Green Bay Packer Ahman Green also told Outsports that it would be difficult for a gay player to come out, but he shared that he has a gay brother and lesbian sister.

“In our sport, to be honest, I think it would be hard for any guy to come out while he’s playing,” he said. “And that’s not a happy thing to say. The gay community is just like everybody else, but they’re treated differently. It’s a double standard. If a guy was gay, he wouldn’t come out while he was playing. He knows the possibility of the scruitiny he might face from the locker room, which would be unfair. I am very open-minded. It is what it is. People are born that way. You can’t control it. Just like you’re white, I’m black. But a lot of people don’t think my way. I wish they did, because then there wouldn’t be guys who wanted to stay hidden.”

Patriots Studmuffin Rob Gronkowski Would “Fuck Tim Tebow To Take His Virginity”

Queerty reports:

New England Patriots footballer Rob Gronkowski is the kind of straight guy we could totally pal around with. He’s funny, good-looking, and hangs out with porn stars. Plus, he’s not one of those fat football players with 30 pounds of flab as extra padding. He’s got a six pack! What’s not to love?
So it’s no surprise that the Gronster was a good sport when some University of Rhode Island college kids asked him to play “Fuck, Chuck, or Marry” with Jets coach Rex Ryan, octogenarian comedienne Betty White, and new Jet backup QB Tim Tebow last night.
His answer, without hesitation: “I would eff Tebow to take his virginity.”
But that begs the question—once Tebow is broken in by Rob’s sizable manhood, what bottom will Tebow give his top virginity away to? Maybe Fred Durst, if it hasn’t happened already.

Tim Tebow Is Gayer Than A Clutch Purse On Tony Night 

Don’t you love when people imply that their God is too busy caring about games than caring about really important shit? I don’t.