LGBTQ news and entertainment
NFL punter and LGBT ally Chris Kluwe has been signed by the Oakland Raiders, FOX Sports reports:
“Kluwe, who was released by the Minnesota Vikings on May 6, will step in for Pro Bowler Shane Lechler, who left Oakland for the Houston Texans via free agency. Kluwe’s contract is for one year, and is for the league minimum.”
As Chris Kluwe forecast after they drafted UCLA punter Jeff Locke in the fifth round last week, the Minnesota Vikings have released him.
From the Star Tribune:
The 31-year-old was given the news Monday morning at Winter Park during a meeting with General Manager Rick Spielman. Kluwe had been anticipating the move, one that became transparent April 27 when the team used a fifth-round draft pick on UCLA punter Jeff Locke.
Locke participated in the team’s three-day rookie mini-camp over the weekend and fared well enough for the Vikings to feel totally secure in selecting him. And that meant kicking the door open and sending Kluwe on his way.
While the Vikings won’t admit it, it’s clear Kluwe’s public support for equality became a headache for the team. Punters in the NFL rarely have the kind of high profile, political voice Kluwe has demonstrated. I imagine the Vikings would very much like to have a punter in the more “anonymous” vein.
I do love this quote from Chip Scoggins – pretty much sums it up:
Kluwe’s departure will make the Vikings locker room a lot more dull because he is incredibly intelligent, articulate and passionate about societal issues. He’s a fascinating individual in a sport that breeds conformity. The NFL has become so big and so powerful that players often cling to political correctness for fear that a ripple might swell into a tidal wave. Kluwe is that surfer dude on top of the wave, hanging 10 on any issue that stirs his emotion.
Kluwe, always a class act, wrote this on Twitter as the news broke:
The NY Times is reporting that the New York Jets have released Tim Tebow:
On Monday morning, the Jets cut Tebow with no pomp, a victim of circumstance. They acknowledged an experiment gone awry with a news release that said, simply, “Jets waive QB Tim Tebow.” There was no mention in that release of Tebow’s statistics with the Jets, perhaps in part because there were none worth mentioning.
He was more afterthought than asset, more distraction than revelation, a decoy who played a greater role on special teams than behind center.
No word on where Tebow could end up in the NFL.
On Saturday, the Minnesota Vikings drafted UCLA punter Jeff Locke in the fifth round. Some see this as writing on the wall that the Vikings current kicker (and LGBT ally), Chris Kluwe, may be on his way out, and that the reason for his exit will be “distractions” related to activism for LGBT civil rights, NBC Sports’ Mike Florio reports:
Of course, the distractions weren’t a problem when Kluwe was staying up very late playing Guitar Hero and Worlds of Warcraft, or staying out very late on Friday night doing shows with his band. After Kluwe opted to get behind a controversial social cause while also getting to bed at a decent hour, the team opted to acquire a player who, given that he was selected in round five, will likely have the field tilted in his favor when it comes to determining whether he or Kluwe gets the Water Pik.
Kluwe told Florio: “It’s a shame that in a league with players given multiple second chances after arrests, including felony arrests, that speaking out on human rights has a chance of getting you cut,” Kluwe told PFT via text message.
(via Towleroad)
Alan Gendreau, the placekicker who is hoping to become the first openly gay player in the NFL, was the first out player to enter the draft this week. Unfortunately, he’s still waiting to be picked.
Check out his interview with ABC News while we wait. Fingers crossed Gendreau at least gets a shot at making it in the NFL.
(via the Advocate)
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| (image via Memegraph) |
After discussions with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who last month expressed concern over reports that potentional recruits at the NFL Combine were being asked questions to possibly determine whether or not they are gay, the NFL has announced it will be reinforcing policies against discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Under an agreement reached with the NFL and the Player’s Association, the league’s collective bargaining agreement will be expanded to protect newly recruited players from being asked questions such as whether they like women or have a girlfriend.
“Schneiderman’s office was concerned the questions were designed to determine whether a player is gay and potentially block them from being drafted. At the same time, posters will be added to locker rooms directing players to call the Player’s Association if they suspect there is discrimination.
“These interviews determine the future course of their lives… We’re just making sure the non-discrimination applies to everyone,” Schneiderman said in the interview.
Brendon Ayanbadejo appeared on MSNBC with Thomas Roberts to discuss his release from the Baltimore Ravens plus his comments about multiple NFL players possibly coming out on a single day.
In an interview with the Baltimore Sun, Brendon had said there are players – possibly four – in the NFL considering coming out at the same time to take the pressure off one player:
“I think it [an openly gay player] 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.
“Of course, there would be backlash. If they could share the backlash, it would be more positive. It’s cool. It’s exciting. We’re in talks with a few guys who are considering it. The NFL and organizations are already being proactive and open if a player does it and if something negative happens. We’ll see what happens.”
New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski appeared on ESPN Radio New York recently saying that he’s fine with a gay player on the team:
“I got this question before, about a year ago, and I basically will say the same answer that I did a year ago. You’ve got to accept the player. Everyone has their own ways to live their life and as long as he’s respecting me, keeping distance, respecting myself, I’ll respect him back. If he’s being a great teammate and he’s a guy on the field doing a great job, well then you’ve got nothing to complain about. He’s another teammate and another friend.”
“If someone is on my team and they are a great teammate and a great player on the field, helping the team win — that’s all you’ve got to ask for.”
No active NFL player has publicly come out as gay, although a report from CBSSports.com this week states that a current NFL player is “strongly considering” doing so.
(via ESPN)
Scott Fujita, an 11-year N.F.L. veteran and an ambassador for Athlete Ally, which fights homophobia in sports, has written a powerful op-ed for the New York Times on the subject of marriage equality and the many examples he plans to use to explain to his young daughters how and why discrimination against gay marriage existed and the progress that has been made. From the New York Times:
I support marriage equality for so many reasons: my father’s experience in an internment camp and the racial intolerance his family experienced during and after the war, the gay friends I have who are really not all that different from me, and also because of a story I read a few years back about a woman who was denied the right to visit her partner of 15 years when she was stuck in a hospital bed. My belief is rooted in a childhood nurtured by a Christian message of love, compassion and acceptance. It’s grounded in the fact that I was adopted and know there are thousands of children institutionalized in various foster programs, in desperate need of permanent, safe and loving homes, but living in states that refuse to allow unmarried couples, including gays and lesbians, to adopt because they consider them not fit to be parents. In articulating all my feelings about marriage equality, I almost don’t know where to begin. And perhaps that’s part of the problem. Why do we have to explain ourselves when it comes to issues of fairness and equality? Why is common sense not enough?
Read the entire essay here. In December 2011, Fujita recorded a video for Americans for Marriage Equality:
In 2009, Fujita was named the New Orleans Saints’ “Man of the Year” for his contributions on the field and in the community. Thank you, Scott Fujita.
LGBT allys and NFL football players Chris Kluwe (Minnesota Vikings) and Brendon Ayanbedejo (Baltimore Ravens) have filed their own amicus brief in support of repealing Prop 8 in California. The brief was filed on the last day “friend of the court” briefs could be filed.
From ESPN:
In the brief, Kluwe and Ayanbadejo argue that athletes have a good deal of influence — for better or worse — and they wanted to express their support for the right of gays to marry legally.
“When we advance the idea that some people should be treated differently because of who they are,” they wrote, “demeaned in public as lesser beings, not worthy of the same rights and benefits as others despite their actions as good citizens and neighbors, then we deny them equal protection under the laws. America has walked this path before, and courageous people and the Court brought us to the right result. We urge the Court to repeat those actions here.”