Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon
Ayanbadejo urges Marylanders to support gay marriage in a new PSA.
Ayanbadejo is the first professional
athlete to endorse the Marylanders for Marriage Equality
campaign.
“I believe we should be doing
everything that we can to make Maryland families stronger. Which is
why I support marriage for gay and lesbian couples who want to make a
lifetime commitment to each other,” Ayanbadejo says in his
30-second ad. “People from all walks of life, including gay and
lesbian couples, want their children to be in stable homes and
protected under the law.”
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley
kicked off the video campaign earlier this month.
Just weeks after New York became the
sixth state to legalize gay marriage, O'Malley announced he would
follow in New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's footsteps and shepherd a
marriage bill through the Maryland Legislature during the upcoming
legislative session. Last year, an effort to legalize the
institution failed in the House of Delegates after passage in the
Senate.
In his ad, O'Malley
argues that marriage equality and religious freedoms can coexist.
Pressure from religious groups has been credited for ending last
year's effort.