Marriage equality rock star Chris Kluwe (oh – he’s also punter for the Minnesota Vikings) stopped by to see Ellen DeGeneres today to talk about his letter in defense of Brendon Ayanbadejo, and why there aren’t any out players in the NFL.
Regular readers of The Randy Report know I think Chris is a great, great ally to the LGBT community. He’s a terrific writer and wordsmith; and he has the courage of his convictions to stand up for what he believes. His family must be very, very proud.
If you don’t already, follow Chris on Twitter. Smart, funny, great guy.
Stephen Colbert hosted Randy Report favorite and marriage equality advocate, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe last night. Colbert made a point of addressing Kluwe’s use of the term “lustful cockmonster” to describe a Maryland lawmaker in an Op-Ed piece last fall.
“Why would you support gay marriage? You are in the most hyper-masculine sport in the world. Okay? Football players are about a thousand miles from gay. Men in tight pants patting each other on the butt. Nothing gay about that. Get that butt out of my face. Get it out of there!”
They also address video game World of Warcraft and troll-on-elf marriage.
I can’t say enough good things about this guy. He simply rocks.
Vikings punter and creatively articulate LGBT ally Chris Kluwe has been named by Salon as the sexiest man of the year.
Chris Kluwe knows how to write an angry letter.
After Maryland delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr. attempted to silence an NFL player’s same-sex marriage activism, the Minnesota Vikings punter responded with a profanity-laced missive in which he referred to the politician as a ”narcissistic fromunda stain.”
He also sarcastically reassured Burns that legalized same-sex marriage won’t “magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster.” The letter wasn’t just hilariously inappropriate: It deftly took the pol to task for homophobia, hypocrisy and disrespect of free speech. Kluwe even name-checked COBRA and Social Security benefits.
But let’s be honest: He had us at “lustful cockmonster.”
Writing for Slate, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe expresses his – and many people’s – thoughts on the historic advances with last nights’ marriage equality successes:
“I would like to thank every single person that helped defeat the same-sex marriage ban in Minnesota, as well as every person who contributed to passing marriage-equality legislation in Maryland and Maine and (likely) Washington. Together, we made a statement that America is tired of division. America is tired of discrimination, of exclusion, and of unthinking oppression—the belief that people have to live their lives according to someone else’s views rather than their own free will.
“Together, we made sure that the world our children will grow up in is one step closer to tolerance, love, and equality; a world where our children can make their own choices instead of being shackled to dusty hate from the past. Together, we showed this nation that a polity functions best when it includes all of its citizens, when it celebrates their differences as part of one glorious whole, when it synthesizes a wide assortment of cultures and beliefs under the guiding principles of freedom and happiness for everyone.
“Together, we can approach the work still at hand. We can face the continuous fight for equality that every society must wage each generation. We may not know the specifics until they’re upon us, but the underlying foundation is always the same—living your own life vs. someone else making your choices for you.
“Together, we can promote free will over oppression. We can treat others the way we want to be treated, with dignity and respect. We can work together to find common ground, despite our differences, and build a stable, nurturing society. There is work yet to be done, but we passed an important milestone today. Ten, 15, 20 years from now, when our children ask us, ‘What did you do when it came time to fight for someone else?,’ we can tell them about Minnesota and Maryland and Maine, states where people finally said: Enough.
“Enough with the hate. Enough with the bigotry. Enough with the discrimination. We are all Americans, and we are all in this together. Without each other, we have nothing.”
Chris Kluwe, the staunch LGBT ally and Minnesota Vikings punter, left his freelance post at the St. Paul Pioneer Press over that publication’s op-edsupporting an amendment to the state constitution that would define marriage as one man, one woman.
Kluwe’s outrage comes not from the Pioneer Press having an opinion on the amendment; it comes from pretending that the op-ed wasn’t endorsing one side when it clearly was.
Kluwe wrote one more blog post for the paper explaining in detail after detail why he felt the op-ed was dishonest and downright lied.
How does this piece lie? It lies, most simply, in this sentence, “the Pioneer Press is not endorsing one way or another.”
You have made your endorsement, gentlemen. You chose your side. What you did not choose, what you refused to face, was the courage to stand for your convictions, to attach your names to the position your actions claimed. That is why I will no longer associate with you, why I decline to give you page views and ad revenue any longer. The only reason I’m posting this piece here, and not somewhere else, is because I said I would, and I believe that one’s word is not something to be given lightly.
I will not stand for the continual eroding of society. I will not tolerate the presentation of a biased argument under a thin coat of presumed neutrality. I will not contribute to the cheapening of discourse and thought that decays every single news as entertainment outlet in this country. I absolutely will not compromise my ethics and morality, ideals that lead me to treat others with empathy and honesty, to demand truth not only from myself but from those around me.
Vikings punter and marriage equality advocate plans to debate an empty chair on the subject of marriage equality this evening if nobody materializes to sit in it, Gannett reports:
Billed as “Chris Kluwe vs. The Chair,” Kluwe will take the stage at downtown Minneapolis’ The Brave New Workshop Comedy Theatre to share his views against Minnesota’s Same Sex Marriage Amendment, Amendment 1, which if passed, would limit legal marriage in that state between a man and a woman.
In addition to Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann and numerous other politicians who support the amendment, organizers also invited Kluwe’s former teammate Matt Birk to discuss the amendment. Since none of those people agreed to come to the event, Kluwe decided to appear with the chair and a local radio host serving as moderator.
The debate is being streamed live at The Uptake starting at 5 pm (CT, we presume, since it’s in Minneapolis).
“Tell me, Archbishop, Pope, what purpose does the Church serve attempting to influence the affairs of a secular state? The federal benefits under law currently denied gay couples certainly fall under the realm of Caesar, don’t they? No one is forcing the Catholic Church to marry gay couples if that is not the Church’s wish. You can keep the sanctity of Catholic marriage solely between heterosexual couples if you feel that is what’s required (again though, I caution you on the dangers of presumed infallibility). All we are asking is for you to extend the open hand of tolerance instead of the closed fist of fear and hate.
“As American citizens, we respect the right for everyone to practice whichever religion they so choose, including the right to not practice one at all. Haven’t we learned enough from the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the Talibans of the world? What does it benefit the Church to attempt to influence secular policy in this country, especially when that influence is to deny basic human rights to others? Will you now assume Caesar’s throne, grasping the transitory ephemera of worldly power and control, while forsaking the eternal kingdom of Heaven?” – Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, responding Minnesota Archbishop John Nienstadt’s advice to reject gay children.
Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt – who spearheaded a mass mailing in 2010 of 400,000 anti-gay DVDs, and created a special “marriage prayer” which he asked the state’s Catholics to recite during Mass in an effort to create support for the anti-gay amendment on Minnesota’s ballot in November – told the mother of a gay son that she should reject him or risk burning in hell, according to a recently-surfaced letter.
One of my favorite LGBT allys, Chris Kluwe, is currently featured on the cover of OUT Magazine. (He’s also officially my favorite NFL punter).
In the interview, Kluwe explains some of his tips for making his blog posts work:
“Your insults can’t be the standard f*ck, sh*t, bitch — it has to be something that sticks in people’s minds,” says Chris Kluwe, the Minnesota Vikings punter, explaining how to craft a devastating letter to someone whose views you hold reprehensible. “Generally the way you do that is to take a swear word—usually a part of someone’s anatomy — and attach it to something else that it normally wouldn’t go with. When you come up with a good one, you’ll know you have it because you’ll just start giggling to yourself.”
Make sure you read the terrific article about this Minnesota Viking’s literal stand for equal rights for gays and lesbians.
Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk, wrote a commentary piece for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune opposing marriage equality.
“Marriage redefinition will affect the broader well-being of children and the welfare of society,” he wrote. “As a Christian and a citizen, I am compelled to care about both.”
He added, “A defense of marriage is not meant as an offense to any person or group. All people should be afforded their inalienable American freedoms. There is no opposition between providing basic human rights to everyone and preserving marriage as the sacred union of one man and one woman.”
Birk’s former teammate, Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings, wrote a rebuttal to Birk’s commentary saying, in part:
I know Matt Birk, having played with him for multiple years in the NFL. I respect Matt, and I respect his right to his own views and ideas.
However, in this instance, Matt I think you’re wrong. This is not an attack on you as a person or your beliefs, but the argument you presented in the Star Tribune simply does not stand up to logical inspection.
Your argument lacks facts, sources, or statistics. You can’t just say “Same-sex marriage is bad for kids because I think it’s bad for kids, and I think it’s bad for kids because it’s bad for kids”. That’s called circular reasoning and it’s a logical fallacy. If you want us to understand why same-sex marriage is bad for kids, you need to provide some sort of substantial evidence. Tell us that children from same-sex couples are more likely to grow up broke and miserable and alone and will end their days starving in a gutter.
You’re trying to raise a religious argument in a secular matter. The First Amendment isn’t just about the freedom FOR religion, it’s also about the freedom FROM religion. The word “marriage” appears in thousands of legal documents and laws in this nation, and to attempt to narrowly define it through a religious application means you’re trying to assert a religious viewpoint on those who may not necessarily hold the same views. Our founding fathers knew quite clearly the dangers that state sponsored religious persecution could inflict (they lived through it!), and the First Amendment is worded in favor of state neutrality for a reason. I will support your right to worship at whatever altar you choose, but I will not support you trying to force it on someone else, or to deny someone else legal benefits due to religious reasoning.
Chris Kluwe goes point by point with logic and respect, and makes clear why marriage equality is a good thing for society.
The fantastic Mr. Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings has posted a new essay addressing a recent article by Riley Balling in the StarTribune.com in their Commentaries section.
The crux of Mr. Riley’s support for banning marriage equality rights is “For many of us who favor traditional marriage, marriage is about raising children in a healthy environment. Thus, any change to the definition of marriage affects our marriage.”
Chris Kluwe artfully takes down this argument. Here’s just an excerpt:
Which version of “traditional marriage” would you like to use Mr. Balling? Should we go back to ancient Israel and practice polygamy, with a woman’s only right that to own her own tent? Or should we use the ancient Greek definition of marriage, one more concerned with inheritance than love or procreation, one that would force a woman to divorce her current husband and marry a sibling if that was required to continue the family? Should we force a brother to marry his dead sibling’s wife? Or perhaps we should make arranged marriages with child brides, that’s certainly traditional enough. Wait, I know, let’s go with the one where you have to pay three goats and a cow in order to ensure the woman is yours to keep forever, and you can stone her to death if she cheats on you. That one sounds terrific!
[snip]
Frankly, sir, your blatant attempt to sway people by using the “OH MAH GAWD THINK OF THE CHILDREN” argument is tiresome, bothersome, and insulting to anyone who cares to take the slightest interest in pulling aside your curtain of self satisfied drivel to expose the ugliness underneath. Furthermore, you never made any sort of logical attempt to explain how same-sex marriage affects your marriage in any concrete way, instead offering up vague generalizations with no proof. When it comes to “the children”, I can assure you that I *am* thinking of my children, and not just my children, but all the children they will come in contact with, and all the adults they will someday be; and it is my sincerest wish as a parent that I can raise them to be tolerant, to respect the free will of others, and above all, to see beneath the smug bigotry and oppression of those who would enslave the world to satisfy their own ugly lust for control. If you have any children, it is my hope that they enjoy a peaceful life, one free of tyranny.
