Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon
Ayanbadejo on Sunday said he saw gay marriage as a civil rights
issue.
Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation,
Ayanbadejo reiterated his support for giving gay men and lesbians the
right to marry.
“This is something I've been speaking
about since 2009,” Ayanbadejo said. “In my opinion it's just the
evolution of civil rights and equal rights. Athletes do a lot to
change society and this is something we can make a big difference.
It starts with bullying and kids in elementary school and goes all
the way to the legislative, and treating everybody equally.”
Ayanbadejo helped organize a Supreme
Court amicus brief signed by 42 professional athletes and
sport figures in support of plaintiffs challenging Prop 8,
California's gay marriage ban.
(Related: 42
athletes, sport figures sign brief in support of gay marriage.)
“This is a fight that myself and a
bunch of my colleagues want to take on and we feel like everybody
should be treated equally. We're not going to stop until everyone is
treated fairly.”
“It's just a way of life that I've
always … being a biracial kid and knowing what it's like to be part
of the minority, I know what it's like to be treated differently and
discriminated,” Ayanbadejo
said.