Maryland state legislator Emmett Burns has backpedaled from his attempt to censor Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadeja, after the NFL player spoke out publicly in favor same-sex marriage.
Del. Emmett Burns set off a firestorm last week when he asked in a letter to Ravens’ owner Steve Biscotti that Biscotti “take the necessary action . . . to inhibit such expressions from your employee.”
On Monday, however, Burns was singing a different tune. “Upon reflection he has his 1st Amendment ri
…
Maryland state legislator Emmett Burns has backpedaled from his attempt to censor Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadeja, after the NFL player spoke out publicly in favor same-sex marriage.
Del. Emmett Burns set off a firestorm last week when he asked in a letter to Ravens’ owner Steve Biscotti that Biscotti “take the necessary action . . . to inhibit such expressions from your employee.”
On Monday, however, Burns was singing a different tune. “Upon reflection he has his 1st Amendment rights and I have my 1st Amendment rights,” he said. “Each one of us has the right to speak our opinions. The football player and I have a right to speak our minds.”
Maryland, Washington and Maine will be voting on marriage equality this November. Burns, a Baptist minister, opposed the legislation when it was approved and signed into law by Gov. Martin O’Malley earlier this year.
But Chris Kluwe, the Minnesota Vikings’ punter, delivered an e-mail kick in the pants to Burns that went viral over the Internet.
“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 sport’,” Kluwe told Burns, who is African-American.
(The Washington Redskins, playing in an majority-minority city, stayed all-white under owner George Preston Marshall long after other teams had integrated.)
Kluwe wasn’t done.
“I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life,” he wrote. “They won’t come into your house and steal your children. They won’t magically turn you into a lustful c**kmonster.”
Marriage equality has gone 0-for-23 in statewide votes. With football players now lining up for it, same-sex marriage is ahead in polls in all three states where it is on the ballot.