Former NFL players Chris Kluwe
(Minnesota Vikings), Brendon Ayanbadejo (Baltimore Ravens) and Scott
Fujita (New Orleans Saints) on Friday filed an amicus brief
with the Supreme Court in support of plaintiffs challenging bans on
gay marriage.
The nation's highest court will hear
oral arguments in the case on April 28, with a ruling expected in
June.
The brief mentions Jason Collins and
Michael Sam, the first openly gay players in the NBA and NFL,
respectively, and their struggle to be accepted by their teams, fans
and media.
“Is it really too hard to see the
parallels between this and what people said of Jackie Robinson almost
70 years ago?” the
brief states. “Jackie Robinson was a singular athlete and
singular man, but the slurs hurled against him sprang from the same
place as the slurs hurled against Michael Sam. They are illegitimate
views, wrongly-motivated, and used to take equal rights away from the
minority. They led this Court to apply the Constitution properly in
the area of race a half-century ago, and they should lead to proper
application of the Constitution again today.”
Kluwe, Ayanbadejo and Fujita have
previously supported marriage equality and are ambassadors for
Athlete Ally, an organization working to end homophobia in sports.