The Minnesota Viking are quickly beginning to look like the most homophobic team in the NFL. Last year we had the dust up between the Vikings and LGBT straight ally Chris Kluwe and now less than an hour after SCOTUS ruled in favor of marriage equality Friday, Minnesota Vikings Cornerback Josh Robinson took to Twitter to compare same-sex marriage to pedophilia and incest.
“In the end EVERYONE has a right to believe what they want to believe. You shared yours, I shared mine.”
Robinson of course today apologized.
“I apologize for any offense my tweets may have caused,” Robison wrote in a text message to the Star-Tribune. “In an attempt to express my beliefs, I created some confusion with my choice of words, and for that I apologize. I do not equate the Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality with other social issues. There are obvious differences. However, I do believe that God’s laws will always supersede man’s laws. This belief is not from hate for anyone but from a love for my God and all those he created. Again, I’m sorry!”
NFL Minnesota Viking running back Adrian Peterson has been indicted by a grand jury on child abuse charges related to physically injuring his 4-year old son . Peterson you may remember became a poster boy for the anti-gay organization the National Organization for Marriage after he made comments in an interview with Sirius/XM NFL radio about same-sex marriage saying “I’m not with that. That’s not something I believe in.”
The Vikings are in the process of gathering information regarding the legal situation involving Adrian Peterson. At this time, we will defer further questions to Adrian’s attorney Rusty Hardin.
Earlier this month Chris Kluwe wrote a piece on Deadspin.com accusing the Minnesota Vikings organization of releasing him for his pro-LGBT activism. On Friday Kluwe and his lawyer Clayton Halunen spoke for five hours with investigators and named two players said to be witnesses when MN Vikings special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer’s anti-gay bigoted statements in front of other teammates. One of Priefer’s most disturbing locker-room comments included : “We should round up all the gays, send them to an island, and then nuke it until it glows.”,
In a five-hour meeting Friday with investigators, Halunen said Kluwe identified [kicker Blair] Walsh and long snapper Cullen Loeffler as witnesses to Priefer allegedly making homophobic comments numerous times during the 2012 season in meetings with the punter, kicker and long snapper, and that Pico was told about it after the fact. Halunen noted that Kluwe told investigators he is willing to take a polygraph test.
Walsh issued a statement through the Vikings on Jan. 2 in defense of Priefer. But Halunen said Kluwe retained text messages in which Walsh referenced what Priefer allegedly said, including a text related to Priefer allegedly saying, “We should round up all the gays, send them to an island, and then nuke it until it glows.”
“If Walsh is going to lie, this will all be exposed, I’m confident,” Halunen said. “If Walsh is going to lie, that’s his choice. But at the end of the day, we believe this is going to come out. We have evidence. So he made that choice, I guess.”
Someone should ask Priefer and the Minnesota Vikings if his little ‘joke’ would be as funny if he had said Jews or African Americans instead of gays.
Back2Stonewall.com supports and stands beside Chris Kluwe.
Former Minnesota Vikings punter and LGBT ally Chris Kluwe said Tuesday that he wants the football team’s special teams coach Mike Priefer, who used extreme and violent anti-gay language in the locker room, to get help.
“After thinking about it, after reflecting on it, I don’t think an appropriate punishment is if he never coaches again,” Kluwe said on “Fox Sports Live.” “I think it would be better if he got therapy, if he got counseling, and then a year or two from now, come back into the league as a role model, help out with LGBT groups, and show people that this is an important issue.
Kluwe earlier this month came forth with a piece that he wrote for Deadspin, letting it be known that he was let go from the Vikings for being an ally to the LGBT community. He described Priefer as a”bigot who used anti-gay slurs around him and was quoted as saying “gays should be rounded up and put on an island and nuked”
Priefer, however, “vehemently denies” using anti-gay language
Chris Kluwe has retained attorneys from the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and Clayton Halunen to represent him during the investigation of the Minnesota Vikings’ after the claims that he made last week of the internal homophobia of the team and also that he was fired for being an outspoken LGBT ally.
In an article he published on Deadspin recently, Kluwe alleged that Vikings special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer made derogatory remarks about gays and other members of the LGBT community both to him personally and in team meetings. The alleged remarks were made in 2012, when Kluwe was still a member of the Vikings and also when he was speaking out publicly against passage of a constitutional referendum in Minnesota to restrict marriage to heterosexual-only couples. Priefer issued a statement “strongly denying” the allegations, and the Vikings released a statement about the article.
Kluwe alleged that Priefer’s remarks were intended to humiliate him into silence. When that didn’t happen, Kluwe alleged, other members of the Vikings management team pressured him to tone down his off-the-field comments in favor of equal marriage rights for all. Finally, the team cut him from the squad prior to the start of the 2013 season. He has not played in the NFL since then.
Awesome ally and LGBT advocate NFL punter Chris Kluwe has been signed by the Oakland Raiders, less than 10 days after the Minnesota Vikings cut Kluwe which led to suspicions’ that the Vikings management did not like Kluwe’s straight to the point and sometimes colorful LGBT advocacy
FOX Sports reports:
“Chris 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.
…Kluwe is known for his mind and mouth, as well as his leg. He is a vocal advocate of equality in sports (and life), and says he will continue to speak for what he believes. “I’m still going to be myself socially and continue to tweet and interact with my fans,” Kluwe said.
The issue of same-sex marriage remains a hot-button one in California. Kluwe said he was happy the same-sex marriage bill passed and was signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Mark Dayton in Minnesota. Kluwe didn’t think it would be an issue there and is ready to press forward in the Golden State….Prop 8 was passed by voters in 2008 and governs that the state only recognize marriages between a man and a woman. The law’s legality was argued before the US Supreme Court in March, with a ruling expected in June, and Kluwe is optimistic about the likely repeal of the measure. If the measure is not repealed, however, he says it will be an issue of concern that will need to be addressed.”
Congrats to Oakland for picking up Chris!
The Oakland Raiders got a Kluwe and the Minnesota Vikings get a lot of pissed off fans.
Awesome straight LGBT ally and Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Viking is once again tackling bigotry and homophobia in his eloquent wat this time replying to Mormon fundie by the name of Reilly Balling (an associate attorney at Fogg & Powers LLC.) who wrote an op-ed for the Star Tribute stating that same-sex marriages “do not provide safe environments for children.” and harms his “traditional marriage”
“Same-sex marriage falls short of producing safe environments for children because it, at the very least, reinforces changes to the marital definition……. This modern view is directly culpable for the rise in broken homes and its resulting negative effects. Because same-sex marriage is made possible by this modern view of marriage, if we make same-sex marriage equivalent to traditional marriage, we only more firmly impart to future generations that marriage is about personal fulfillment……. Thus, any change to the definition of marriage affects our marriage. Our “traditional” marriages and the children they produce are our greatest source of happiness, and we desire that our children will live in a world that will promote their ability to make the same choices that brought us happiness.”
What a crock of bullshit. And Chris Kluwe felt the same way responding to Elder Bigot Balling by writing: (excerpts)
“I can only assume that you’ve never been trained in classical logic, debate techniques, or basic empathy, so I will humbly offer my own meager knowledge in these fields as it relates to your literary masterpiece “Why same-sex marriage affects my marriage”.
When you state that “As we have seen, and understandably so, people in homosexual relationships are trying to change society to more readily embrace and promote their view of their identity. This is possible largely due to the dissociation between sexual relationships and procreation.”, what you’re really saying is “Those gay people do sex things that I find icky, and we should oppress them because they can’t have babies.” You completely ignore the fact that “people in homosexual relationships are trying to change society” not just because they want to have teh buttsecks (or rise and grind for the ladies), but also to avoid, oh I don’t know, things like being tortured and tied to a fencepost until you die (Matthew Shepard), shot to death while attending school (Lawrence King), shot to death for being transgender (Moses King), committing suicide by hanging due to repeated bullying and taunting (Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover), shot to death and burned while standing military guard (Seaman August Provost), stabbed to death after serving in the Vietnam War (James Zappalorti) – every single one of these attacks because of the victim’s sexuality. Let’s not even get into the over 1100 federal benefits gay couples are legally unable to obtain in this state because they can’t get married – things like health care, survivor benefits, legacies to pass on to their families (including children); things like tolerance, acceptance, and compassion.
You see, Mr. Balling, since you don’t actually provide a definition of what “traditional marriage” is, I think your definition of “traditional marriage” boils down to “I want to make other people who believe differently than I do miserable by taking away their free will so I’ll cloak my hate in the guise of ‘tradition’ and ‘history’ without knowing what those words really mean”, and, well, I’m not really ok with that.
Is Chris Kluwe becoming the Americans sports counterpart of Ben Cohen?
Lets hope so. And we could really use a lot more like him!
KLUWE IS KEWL!
Theres MUCH MORE of Chris taking calling to task which you can read HERE
Minnesota Vikings Kicker Chris Kluwe had some choice and colorful words for the anti-gay Maryland state Rep. Emmett Burns, (A “Pastor” who’s a Democrat no less) who has called for official sanctions against Baltimore Ravens Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo, for publicly supporting same-sex marriage.
Wrote Kluwe:
“I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life. They won’t come into your house and steal your children. They won’t magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster. They won’t even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as the other 90 percent of our population—rights like Social Security benefits, child care tax credits, Family and Medical Leave to take care of loved ones, and COBRA healthcare for spouses and children.
“You know what having these rights will make gays? Full-fledged American citizens just like everyone else, with the freedom to pursue happiness and all that entails. Do the civil-rights struggles of the past 200 years mean absolutely nothing to you? In closing, I would like to say that I hope this letter, in some small way, causes you to reflect upon the magnitude of the colossal foot in mouth clusterfuck you so brazenly unleashed on a man whose only crime was speaking out for something he believed in. Best of luck in the next election; I’m fairly certain you might need it.
P.S. I’ve also been vocal as hell about the issue of gay marriage so you can take your “I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing” and shove it in your close-minded, totally lacking in empathy piehole and choke on it. Asshole.”
