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Topic: NFL Player Defends Gay Rights and Freedom of Expression
Glór na ngael (1,198 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 12:38	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
Glór na ngael (1,198 Posts)	Minnesota Vikings' punter Chris Kluwe has defended the legalisation of gay marriage and freedom of speech in the United States in a spectacularly eloquent and entertaining open letter to conservative Maryland state delegate, Emmet C. Burns Jr. Burns had written to the Baltimore Ravens in an attempt to get them to censor their wide receiver Brendon Ayanbadejo, after he had spoken out in favour of gay marriage. http://deadspin.com/5941348/?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow “They Won’t Magically Turn You Into A Lustful Cockmonster”: Chris Kluwe Explains Gay Marriage To The Politician Who Is Offended By An NFL Player Supporting It Chris Kluwe Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo has spoken out in favor of a Maryland ballot initiative that would legalize gay marriage. Yahoo has published a letter that Maryland state delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr. wrote last week to Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, urging him to "inhibit such expressions from your employee." This is Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe's response to Burns. Dear Emmett C. Burns Jr., 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. The views you espouse neglect to consider several fundamental key points, which I will outline in great detail (you may want to hire an intern to help you with the longer words): 1. As I suspect you have not read the Constitution, I would like to remind you that the very first, the VERY FIRST Amendment in this founding document deals with the freedom of speech, particularly the abridgment of said freedom. 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 narcissistic fromunda stain. What on earth would possess you to be so mind-boggingly stupid? It baffles me that a man such as yourself, a man who relies on that same First Amendment to pursue your own religious studies without fear of persecution from the state, could somehow justify stifling another person's right to speech. To call that hypocritical would be to do a disservice to the word. Mind----ing obscenely hypocritical starts to approach it a little bit. 2. "Many of your fans are opposed to such a view and feel it has no place in a sport that is strictly for pride, entertainment, and excitement." Holy ----ing stballs. Did you seriously just say that, as someone who's "deeply involved in government task forces on the legacy of slavery in Maryland"? Have you not heard of Kenny Washington? Jackie Robinson? As recently as 1962 the NFL still had segregation, which was only done away with by brave athletes and coaches daring to speak their mind and do the right thing, and you're going to say that political views have "no place in a sport"? I can't even begin to fathom the cognitive dissonance that must be coursing through your rapidly addled mind right now; the mental gymnastics your brain has to tortuously contort itself through to make such a preposterous statement are surely worthy of an Olympic gold medal (the Russian judge gives you a 10 for "beautiful oppressionism"). 3. This is more a personal quibble of mine, but why do you hate freedom? Why do you hate the fact that other people want a chance to live their lives and be happy, even though they may believe in something different than you, or act different than you? How does gay marriage, in any way shape or form, affect your life? If gay marriage becomes legal, are you worried that all of a sudden you'll start thinking about penis? "Oh st. Gay marriage just passed. Gotta get me some of that hot dong action!" Will all of your friends suddenly turn gay and refuse to come to your Sunday Ticket grill-outs? (Unlikely, since gay people enjoy watching football too.) 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 cluster---- 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. Sincerely, Chris Kluwe 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. This message has been edited - 08-sep-2012 @ 16:14
Glór na ngael (1,198 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 12:39	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
Glór na ngael (1,198 Posts)	My apologies for accidentally posting this in the gaelic games section.
greendolphin (2,177 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 15:18	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
greendolphin (2,177 Posts)	Love it. Really backfired on this conservative nitwit!. They are always the ones blabbing on about freedom. Well Mr Kluwe showed him what that means, hats off to him!
m_the_d (1,199 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 17:00	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
m_the_d (1,199 Posts)	Is he a linebacker or a wide receiver?
Letterman (200 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 18:03	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
Letterman (200 Posts)	The soccer equality bill or the redefinition of rugby act from new zealand Rugby is a game played by most boys in New Zealand in their childhood, though some don’t want to play it at all. A significant section of the community have always preferred to play a different sport, like soccer. But Rugby gets all the status in New Zealand, commanding all the respect. So much so that those who play soccer are often made to feel like second-class citizens. They lack the mana of those who play the nation’s revered game. Reliable studies show that this has statistically led to a higher degree of depression among soccer playing boys, and already our rate of male youth suicide is far too high. To end this discrimination we have decided to redefine Rugby to include any sport involving two teams with a ball. As long as you love your team-ball sport you are a rugby player and should be recognized as such in law. Some of our opponents try scare mongering by saying: “well then hockey will end up being called rugby” – but that is not what we are saying at all. This bill is only about soccer players having the right to be considered rugby players like all other rugby players. Hockey uses a stick and no one is saying that should be called rugby. This isn’t about whether you prefer soccer or rugby. It is a fundamental matter of justice and equality. Why should those soccer players who play every week with a ball against another team not have the equal opportunity and right to be recognized in the street as rugby players? Why are they denied the title and privileges on the grounds that they play differently? Shouldn’t all boys in New Zealand have the same rights regardless of their sporting preference? Why discriminate against boys for the way they choose to play their ball-sport? Aren’t we a country that prizes freedom of choice? In New Zealand you can be a rugby player if you are a boy or a girl, an Asian, Indian, Maori or European…. but apparently not if you are a soccer player. We should remember that rugby itself has historically undergone many changes. Once upon a time, there were only four points for a try and now there are five. There are eight in the scrum today instead of six in earlier times. Before you had to jump by yourself in the lineout and now you can be lifted. So the Rugby Union is happy to adjust and refine the definition of rugby throughout the ages– but for some reason they stop at soccer. That old boys’ club wants to control the definition themselves because underneath, they really regard soccer players as wusses. But look at how they handled their own finances in Otago. And let’s never forget that once upon a time there were white Rugby Union teams in South Africa who refused to let black people be rugby players alongside them. Do we want to perpetuate the same kind of discrimination by denying that soccer is an equally legitimate form of rugby? New Zealand has always prided itself on a clear separation between sport and politics, and in the 21st century our political system needs to be free from all forms of discrimination. We led the world in giving women the vote. Yet there are still those who are happy to bar the door to those who play sport differently. There is no point in having a referendum on the issue because of course most rugby-playing New Zealanders will want to defend their privileges and guard the status quo. Some say that we have already achieved equality, when the national soccer team finally got called the “All Whites”. That was a step in the right direction, but it didn’t go far enough. Soccer players need the same access to the “All Black” name and jersey. It’s not good enough to call them “All Whites” when overseas everyone’s heard of the All Blacks. No one talks about the All Whites. It is time to embrace the right of all ball-playing New Zealanders to be regarded as rugby players, regardless of the shape of the ball they use and how they choose to handle it.
yankeelad (5,535 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 18:14	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
yankeelad (5,535 Posts)	Originally posted by greendolphin: Love it. Really backfired on this conservative nitwit!. They are always the ones blabbing on about freedom. Well Mr Kluwe showed him what that means, hats off to him! And look at the name of the gombeen once again Dolph.What the hell is it about our Irish American cousins that has made so many of them right wing bigots is what I am unable to get my head around.Coming from a people who in the not too distant past had seen more than its share of bigotry and while they may never had experienced it themselves surely their parents would have made them aware of it.Look at Fox news all of the top right wing pundits on that chanel are nearly all of Irish extraction.Where the fcuk did those people get those mean spirited values.One would think they would be thankful for what America gave them rather than trying to percecute people on the margins who had very little input one way or the other how life shaped them
bosco32 (606 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 21:06	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
bosco32 (606 Posts)	Originally posted by yankeelad: And look at the name of the gombeen once again Dolph.What the hell is it about our Irish American cousins that has made so many of them right wing bigots is what I am unable to get my head around.Coming from a people who in the not too distant past had seen more than its share of bigotry and while they may never had experienced it themselves surely their parents would have made them aware of it.Look at Fox news all of the top right wing pundits on that chanel are nearly all of Irish extraction.Where the fcuk did those people get those mean spirited values.One would think they would be thankful for what America gave them rather than trying to percecute people on the margins who had very little input one way or the other how life shaped them Irish people in the States and their kids are commonly extremely bigoted and racist in my experience. Makes me sick. It's ignorance for the most part in my opinion.
yankeelad (5,535 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 21:32	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
yankeelad (5,535 Posts)	Originally posted by bosco32: Irish people in the States and their kids are commonly extremely bigoted and racist in my experience. Makes me sick. It's ignorance for the most part in my opinion. Bosco I find your comment quite ignorant as well as bigoted to say the least.You have no right to paint us all with the same brush because my post was far from that intention in cace you obviously very stupidly thought it was ment to get the shiv into all Irish Americans.I have the highest respect for my race as a whole who never neglected their duty to the land where their parents were very honestly welcomed to and where in its time of need were never once found wanting in answering its call to do their duty in its behalf and no doubt their offspring have been brought up properly to do likewise. This message has been edited - 08-sep-2012 @ 21:33
croal miner (2 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 21:32	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
croal miner (2 Posts)	Well said yankee lad,sean hannity,peter king,billo reilly to name a few i could go on and on
croal miner (2 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 21:34	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
croal miner (2 Posts)	Have you ever been to the states bosco?
seanie (1,079 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 21:37	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
seanie (1,079 Posts)	Originally posted by yankeelad: And look at the name of the gombeen once again Dolph.What the hell is it about our Irish American cousins that has made so many of them right wing bigots is what I am unable to get my head around.Coming from a people who in the not too distant past had seen more than its share of bigotry and while they may never had experienced it themselves surely their parents would have made them aware of it.Look at Fox news all of the top right wing pundits on that chanel are nearly all of Irish extraction.Where the fcuk did those people get those mean spirited values.One would think they would be thankful for what America gave them rather than trying to percecute people on the margins who had very little input one way or the other how life shaped them Spoken like the long lost emigrant you are, come to ireland some time and see what a little bigoted self righteous s**t hole this place can be.
greendolphin (2,177 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 21:41	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
greendolphin (2,177 Posts)	As an atheist I am proud to say we have the great Bill Maher on our sides here. Well mine anyway. Sean Hannity is an idiot with a track record of being one.
inbetweeners (413 Posts)	Posted: 08-Sep-2012 22:06	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
inbetweeners (413 Posts)	There is a nice little love in going on here. I will leave ye to it!!
bosco32 (606 Posts)	Posted: 09-Sep-2012 02:20	Quote Edit Delete Report Post Post Reply
bosco32 (606 Posts)	Originally posted by yankeelad: Bosco I find your comment quite ignorant as well as bigoted to say the least.You have no right to paint us all with the same brush because my post was far from that intention in cace you obviously very stupidly thought it was ment to get the shiv into all Irish Americans.I have the highest respect for my race as a whole who never neglected their duty to the land where their parents were very honestly welcomed to and where in its time of need were never once found wanting in answering its call to do their duty in its behalf and no doubt their offspring have been brought up properly to do likewise. My comment is not ignorant or bigoted. I was born in the US, lived there for the early part of my life, have many relatives who still live there and have returned there many times for significant periods of time. When I mix with Irish people there and their offspring I commonly encounter the most hypocritical racism and bigotry. I didn't say everyone but it is quite common. I didn't paint everyone with the same brush, I said commonly. I don't doubt people's loyalty to their land or their family, I'm questioning these people's attitudes to people from elsewhere. Deny it if you like but I know what I've encountered.

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