Marriage Equality and the Baltimore Ravens

categories: Gay Marriage, LGBT Sports, Marriage Equality

Published September 23, 2009 @ 09:33AM PT

Baltimore Ravens

As a Steelers fan it pains me to say this, but the Baltimore Ravens' stock just jumped up about 20 points in my book. Why? Because one of their pro-bowl players, Brendon Ayanbadejo, has become a forceful advocate for marriage equality.

Ayanbadejo attended an Equality Maryland event last week, and earlier this year penned a piece on HuffPost that took anti-LGBT folks to task for supporting bans on same-sex marriage. As Ayanbadejo wrote, "How could our society grant more rights to a heterosexual one night stand wedding in Vegas than a gay couple that has been together for 3, 5, 10 years of true love?"

Wow, score one for common sense points! David Toth from Equality Maryland told the Washington Blade that having a high profile athlete openly discuss marriage equality is a welcome sign.

"While not all of us are pro-footballers, one can never underestimate the power of just one voice to change hearts and minds," Toth said, "whether it’s your own family or millions of adoring fans."

Ah, the power of sports celebrity.

(Photo courtesy of Emmett Tullo 711's photostream on Flickr.)

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Hooray for Brendon Ayanbadejo taking a stand for marriage equality. I hope there are more athletes like him.

Posted by Martin Martinez on 09/23/2009 @ 10:06AM PT
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I'm not a huge football fan, or even a huge sports fan in general, but coming from Maryland, this makes me proud.

Posted by Barbara McNamara on 09/23/2009 @ 12:52PM PT
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It's good that a Baltimore Ravens footballer supports the important right of same-sex marriage. Brendon Ayanbadejo is correct in that a quick wedding in Las Vegas has less credibility than a same-sex couple who have been committed to each other for years, but still can't be married because of intolerance. David Toth is also correct in that a footballer supporting LGBT rights is powerful. Hopefully, more players from professional football teams will be open for LGBT rights.

Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 09/23/2009 @ 03:02PM PT
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I too have never been able to get into sports but knowing that more and more pro-sportsmen are standing up for whats right and speaking out against intollerance and prejudice is a very hopefull sign for our future.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 09/23/2009 @ 06:16PM PT
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Sorry...I should have said sports people instead of sports men.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 09/23/2009 @ 06:17PM PT
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Author

Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.