Salon.com > Chris kluwe

Chris Kluwe: The government is “going to end in some sort of sweeping change, or revolution”

Fri, 28 Jun 2013 15:15:00 +0000

Chris Kluwe isn't worried about the consequences for speaking frankly about his politics.

Even as he acknowledges to Salon that speaking out might get him fired from his job as a punter for the Oakland Raiders (his new team, after his dismissal last year from the Minnesota Vikings), he's still gleefully promoting his book, "Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies." The book is a multifarious combination of free-association poetry, descriptions of life as a football player, and calls for equal rights for gay men and women. There's room both for a disavowal of Ayn Rand and for many expressions of sympathy with core libertarian beliefs.

Chris Kluwe: Here’s what’s wrong with Ayn Rand, libertarians

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 16:30:00 +0000

So I forced myself to read "Atlas Shrugged." Apparently I harbor masochistic tendencies; it was a long, hard slog, and by the end I felt as if Ayn Rand had violently beaten me about the head and shoulders with words. I feel I would be doing all of you a disservice (especially those who think Rand is really super-duper awesome) if I didn’t share some thoughts on this weighty tome.

Who is John Galt?

John Galt (as written in said novel) is a deeply flawed, sociopathic ideal of the perfect human. John Galt does not recognize the societal structure surrounding him that allows him to exist. John Galt, to be frank, is a turd.

However, John Galt is also very close to greatness. The only thing he is missing, the only thing Ayn Rand forgot to take into account when writing "Atlas Shrugged," is empathy.

John Galt talks about intelligence and education without discussing who will pay for the schools, who will teach the teachers. John Galt has no thought for his children, or their children, or what kind of world they will have to occupy when the mines run out and the streams dry up. John Galt expects an army to protect him but has no concern about how it’s funded or staffed. John Galt spends his time in a valley where no disasters occur, no accidents happen, and no real life takes place.

Chris Kluwe: “I don’t know” if LGBT activism got me cut

Tue, 07 May 2013 17:36:00 +0000

Chris Kluwe isn't ready to speculate on whether his getting cut from the Minnesota Vikings had anything to do with his LGBT activism.

"I don't know because I'm not in the meetings with the managers when they make decisions like that," he says. "The only thing I can affect is how well I go out and punt the ball."

For now, he's just "trying to earn a job with another team," says Kluwe, Salon's "sexiest man" of 2012.

That said, NBC quoted a text message from him reading, "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." So it maybe played a part in his getting cut, but maybe not. Either way, he thinks it sucks that it's possible that it did.

Minnesota Vikings cut Chris Kluwe

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:09:00 +0000

Salon sexy man and gay rights advocate Chris Kluwe has been released from the Minnesota Vikings. On Monday morning, the football player tweeted:

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In the past year, the player has emerged as an unlikely activist for gay rights, having appeared on the cover of OUT magazine and numerous talk shows including "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and "The Colbert Report". Though popular with the media, however, Kluwe's advocacy has not impressed the Vikings coaching staff.

Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune speculated yesterday that the then-pending Vikings cut would be a result of Kluwe's extra-curricular activities:

Waiting for the gay Jackie Robinson

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Whoever the gay equivalent of Jackie Robinson will be – and according to some sources, we may get several of them at the same time – he (or they) is almost certainly already playing professional sports, and may well be an established star. Robinson’s history-making Major League Baseball debut in 1947 was enormously dramatic, of course, but lacked that level of shadowy intrigue: No one wondered whether Stan Musial or Ted Williams might abruptly announce that he’d been black the whole time, like the tormented hero of a Faulkner novel. (Although, given the bizarre history of race in America, who really knows? There were a handful of earlier cases when baseball teams tried to “pass” light-skinned African-American players as Native Americans – and that’s a terrific movie idea if I’ve ever heard one.)

Are NFL hopefuls being vetted for their sexuality?

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:03:00 +0000

Colorado tight end Nick Kasa's claim that he was asked by scouts if he's straight has inspired calls from the Player's Association for the league to investigate whether or not players are being asked about their sexuality during the NFL scouting combine.

"They ask you like, 'Do you have a girlfriend? Are you married? Do you like girls?'" Kasa said in an interview with ESPN Radio Denver. "Those kinds of things, and you know it was just kind of weird. But they would ask you with a straight face, and it's a pretty weird experience altogether."

The NFL combine is week-long showcase where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of coaches, general managers, and scouts. Basically, it's a week-long job interview.

"I know that the NFL agrees that these types of questions violate the law, our CBA and player rights," NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday. "I hope that they will seek out information as to what teams have engaged in this type of discrimination and we should then discuss appropriate discipline."

Vikings punter Chris Kluwe to release a collection of “uncensored personal essays”

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:23:00 +0000

Chris Kluwe, the Minnesota Vikings punter who became Salon's sexiest man after he penned a scathing, impassioned letter supporting gay marriage, is now releasing a book that promises more "uncensored personal essays." The book, "Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies," derives its name from a line in the now-famous letter Kluwe wrote to Maryland pol Emmet C. Burns Jr.:

"By using your position as an elected official (when referring to your constituents so as to implicitly threaten the Ravens organization) to state that the Ravens should “inhibit such expressions from your employees”, more specifically Brendon Ayanbadejo, not only are you clearly violating the First Amendment, you also come across as a BEAUTIFULLY UNIQUE SPARKLEPONY."

Kluwe, a gamer, self-proclaimed geek and fierce gay rights advocate, defies the stereotype for the typical football player. As such, his essays will tackle subjects spanning from faith to human rights to government, and more.

Little Brown has set the release date for June 25, 2013.

Must-see morning clip

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:20:00 +0000

Last night, Stephen Colbert interviewed Salon's sexiest man, Chris Kluwe, the Vikings punter who penned an epic letter blasting Maryland politician Emmet C. Burns Jr. over the pol's desire to suppress a Baltimore Ravens player's vocal defense of gay marriage. Explaining his stance last night, Kluwe said, "I firmly believe that people are people, and [gay people] deserve to be treated the same as everyone else."

Coach to Chris Kluwe: Shut up and punt

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:30:00 +0000

Chris Kluwe's coach wants him to shut up and kick.

The Minnesota Vikings punter -- and Salon's 2012 sexiest man -- has been an outspoken advocate for gay rights, and last Sunday added Post-it notes to his uniform advocating for punter Ray Guy to be inducted into the NFL hall of fame.

Now one Vikings coach is tired of it.

"Those distractions are getting old for me, to be quite honest with you," special teams coordinator Mike Priefer told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "To me it's getting old. He's got to focus on punting and holding," Priefer said.

Asked whether he has told Kluwe this, Priefer said: "Nah," Priefer said. "He don't listen."

But Kluwe did hear the criticism, because he fired off these tweets last night:

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Are professional sports more gay-friendly than ever?

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The professional sports locker room can be a scary place, with unwritten rules and political rankings that include which players get lockers next to each other — or far, far away from one another. There are cliques, hazing, pranks, and outsize expectations of toughness. It’s the ultimate site where the stereotypes of what it means to be a man get played out, and the challenge is to fit in and not shake up the coveted “chemistry” teams strive to create. So it isn’t surprising that not a single active gay athlete has come out in American baseball, hockey, football, or basketball. But as the gay-rights movement makes strides in society at large — including the Obama administration backing marriage equality, more states voting to legalize gay marriage, and the military ending its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy — the sports world is starting to change, too, with more and more athletes speaking out in support of the LGBT community.

Two NFL players go head to head on gay marriage

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:57:00 +0000

Just in case the NFL's righteously vocal Brendon Ayanbadejo and Chris Kluwe were making you think that the macho world of professional sports is getting a little too tolerant of gay and lesbian rights, don't worry, Ravens center (and former Minnesota Viking) Matt Birk has a few words to even things out.

In a YouTube video for the Minnesota Catholic Conference and an Op-Ed for the Star Tribune this week, Birk takes a strong stance for his home state's Marriage Protection Amendment, and to his credit, attempts to frame the argument in respectful, reasonable terms. An acknowledgment that gays are people may not seem like a big deal, but coming from a guy who's speaking on behalf of a religion whose leader recently called homosexuality "a concept of human nature that has proven defective," it's something.

Where are the brave athletes?

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 16:05:00 +0000

Pardon me, but did professional football players suddenly take a giant leap into maturity?

In an event so remarkable that most of the sports press still doesn’t seem to know what to make of it, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo spoke out a few weeks ago in support of a Maryland ballot initiative that would legalize gay marriage. To quickly recap what happened next: Maryland State delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr. wrote to Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti requesting “that you take the necessary action, as a National Football League Owner, to inhibit such expressions” and that Ayanbadejo “be ordered to cease and desist such injurious actions." Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe responded to Burns in a scathing open letter that quickly went viral: “I find it inconceivable that you are an elected official of Maryland’s state government. Your vitriolic hatred and bigotry make me ashamed and disgusted to think that you are in any way responsible for shaping policy at any level.”

Football gets LGBT-positive

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:25:00 +0000

It's become a worldwide story about a Democratic politician, a pair of burly athletes and the fight against homophobia. And it's become a reminder that as we strive toward equality and tolerance, we'd better check our stereotypes at the door.

On Sunday, Baltimore County delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr., a Democrat, backed off – ever so slightly – from the intimidating, jackassy letter he fired off on Aug. 29 to Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti regarding linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo's support for same-sex marriage. Maryland is one of four states that will be voting on whether to move forward on same-sex marriage in November, so it's a subject close to Baptist minister Burns' heart. In his letter, Burns said that he and his constituents are "appalled and aghast" at Ayanbadejo, who's written about his stance for HuffPo and appeared in a Marylanders for Marriage Equality ad. He added, chillingly, that "I am requesting you take the necessary action, as a National Football Franchise Owner, to inhibit such expressions from your employee and that he be ordered to cease and desist such injurious actions ... Please give me your immediate response."

Vikings punter tackles homophobic pol

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 21:21:00 +0000

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo is pro-gay marriage. Maryland politician Emmet C. Burns Jr. is not. After Ayanbadejo expressed his beliefs to Burns, Yahoo Sports published a letter that Burns wrote to Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, calling Ayanbadejo's actions "injurious," and asking him to "inhibit such expressions." Now, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has weighed in with a scathing letter to Burns. Here's an excerpt via Deadspin: