Chris Kluwe’s efforts as one of the NFL’s most outspoken LGBT advocates has brought him national praise from many, but within the NFL it seems that it brought him mixed reviews and even the end of his professional career as he was cut from the Minnesota Vikings in May 2013, allegedly over his LGBT advocacy. Since then, Kluwe has spoken publicly about the anti-gay sentiment of his former coaches and he now plans to sue the team regarding his allegations.
According to the Huffington Post, the lawsuit stems from Kluwe’s accusations that he made in a January piece for Deadspin titled “I Was An NFL Player Until I Was Fired By Two Cowards And A Bigot,” in which he boldly alleged that he was “fired by [Special Teams Coordinator] Mike Priefer, a bigot who didn’t agree with the cause I was working for, and two cowards, [then-Head Coach] Leslie Frazier and [General Manager] Rick Spielman … who lacked the fortitude to disagree with Mike Priefer on a touchy subject matter.”
As promised at the time, The Vikings conducted an independent investigation into the matter, but at a press conference Tuesday, Kluwe’s attorney, Clayton Halunen, claimed that the Vikings were refusing to release the results of their investigation.
Kluwe is now suing the Vikings to force them to make the results public.
“We would like to resolve this out of court if we can,” Halunen said at the press conference.
However, the Vikings released a statement of their own, saying that they “have never made or broken promises as Kluwe and his attorney Clayton Halunen have claimed,” referring to releasing the findings of the independent investigation.
“The Vikings have also never engaged in the various comments that Kluwe and Halunen have provided to the media over the past six months,” the statement added.
We’re definitely impressed by Kluwe’s unending drive to see justice done not only for himself but for the LGBT community and we’re interested in seeing how this plays out, especially since it seems like the Vikings have something to hide regarding the alleged homophobia plaguing their team. – nicholas robinson
