Salon.com > Martina Navratilova http://www.salon.com Thu, 20 Jun 2013 04:25:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Where are the brave athletes? http://www.salon.com/2012/09/22/where_are_the_brave_athletes/ http://www.salon.com/2012/09/22/where_are_the_brave_athletes/#comments Sat, 22 Sep 2012 16:05:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13018760 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.”

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