Oakland Raiders punter Chris Kluwe
believes that a lack of gay rights weakens societies.
The 31-year-old Kluwe is among the
NFL's most outspoken supporters of gay rights. Last year, when he
was with the Minnesota Vikings, Kluwe campaigned against passage of
an unsuccessful amendment to the Minnesota Constitution which sought
to define marriage as a heterosexual union. This year, he spoke out
in support of Minnesota's gay marriage law, which takes effect on
August 1.
In an interview with Bloomberg
BusinessWeek to promote his upcoming book Beautifully Unique
Sparkle Ponies, Kluwe said that his book explores the
complexities of the human experience.
“[I]f you define someone by a single
label, you miss out on so much of what makes them a person –
whether that label be 'gay,' 'athlete,' 'nerd,' etc. Human beings
are complex creatures, and to ignore that is laziness.”
“I would also like people to pay
attention to the idea of rational empathy, and that as a society, we
are walking down a path that's well-trodden throughout history.
Every single human civilization has failed over time, and my belief
is that it's due to lack of rational empathy, of understanding that
if you don't have equality in your society, the conflicts you breed
(whether internally or externally) will eventually cause its
collapse,” Kluwe
said.
Beautifully Unique Sparkle Ponies
goes on sale Tuesday.