Baltimore Ravens star Brendon Ayanbadejo rose to prominence as an LGBT ally in September, when he went against Maryland House of Delegates member Emmett C. Burns Jr. over his longtime support of marriage equality. And, though it seemed like Ayanbadejo may have been alone in his stance, he now says that his teammates have praised him for his marriage equality efforts.
Last week, voters in Maryland and three other states, Maine, Minnesote and Washington, approved marriage-equality measures for their states which will allow same-sex couples the right to marry and enjoy the rights that come with it.
In a new interview with “TMZ,” Ayanbadjo says that he was thrilled with his state’s decision to pass same-sex marriage laws, but he wasn’t alone. Apparently, some of his teammates were just as proud of their state’s progress and Ayanbadejo’s social commentary.
“Three Raiders congratulated me on working with and for marriage equality. I remember their names but I will keep that to myself.”
Though Ayanbadejo wouldn’t share the names of his supportive teammates, he did share their ethnicities.
“Ethnicity-wise, it was two white guys and one black guy. Ethnicity plays an important part in this movement,” Ayanbadejo shared.
Thankfully, Ayanbadjo says he’s not done with his marriage equality work and that he plans on lending his support to the same cause in his native state of California, where the Proposition 8 ban against same-sex marriage became a heated national topic during the 2008 election.
Luckily, Ayanbadejo also isn’t alone in his LGBT ally efforts. Check out some other allies below. – nicholas robinson
