Advocacy acceptance goes case-by-case in NFL by Brendan Ayanbadejo (ex-NFL player on LGBT rts)

[Are_grits_groceries]

After reading my friend and colleague Chris Kluwe's Deadspin article, I felt compelled to share my NFL experience and how starkly different it was from his when it came to my advocacy as a NFL player with the Baltimore Ravens. After all, I am part of the reason he was in such deep water after writing a brilliantly scathing article to Maryland's delegate Emmett Burns in September 2012.

The most important thing about my work with Chris is that we are not advocating for gay rights. We are advocating for the equal treatment of all human beings. Through the years we have progressed as a nation and have improved our civility for minority ethnicities, children, women, handicapped, and countless other minority groups. A specific cross-section of our population has continually been left behind -- until now.

It just so happens to be the LGBTQ community. Had I been a product of the '50s, I would have been advocating for all of the above as would Chris.

My time in Baltimore is totally opposite of what Chris wrote he experienced in Minnesota when it came to advocacy.
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Much more:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/opinion-advocacy-acceptance-goes-case-by-case-in-nfl-010414

Thanks Brendan!

[Behind the Aegis]

1. kick