A Serenade of Athletes Coming Forward to Promote Acceptance of Gay Athletes Also Chris Kluwe Says: Just Because We Want The same Rights as over 90% of you We wont come to your homes and steal your Children

Credit: KING 5 

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NFL player and gay rights activist Chris Kluwe spoke at the Everett Community College's graduation ceremony, 

What has made the Oakland Raiders punter more famous than his 8 years in the league was a somewhat profane letter he penned to a Baltimore lawmaker, who criticized another NFL player for supporting gay marriage.

"I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life," Kluwe wrote. "They won't come into your house and steal your children."

"They won't even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as the other 90 percent of our population," he said.

In the wake of the letter, Kluwe appeared on numerous talk shows and even received an invitation to the White House, which he turned down because of a team mini-camp.

Chemistry professor Mark Kontulis said Kluwe could teach students by example.

"Stand up for what you believe in, go with your heart, go with your gut and buck the stereotype," said Kontulis. "Cause that's what he's doing. He's not what we think in a football player kind of way."

When asked why he chose to speak at EVCC, Kluwe simply said, "Because they asked me.”

Brendon Ayanbadejo (Amy Argetsinger / The Washington Post)

Occasion: Announcing his upcoming role as guest editor of the Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest LGBT newspaper.

Setting: Conference room at Donovan House hotel.

Bona fides: Three-time Pro Bowl honoree, most recently with the Baltimore Ravens whom he helped win the 2013 Super Bowl; one of the first straight athletes in professional sports to advocate for same-sex marriage.

Backup: Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff.

What he wants: To promote acceptance of gay athletes and educate against bullying. “Sports is the best way to reach a lot of people in a demographic that wouldn’t otherwise talk about equality.”

How he looked: Casual Friday, NFL-style — lightweight blazer over black V-neck, patterned slip-on shoes, bright blue pants (“my LGBT pants”).

What he’s got planned: Too soon to say — their work on the special Aug. 30 issue is just getting started. While Naff said he’d love to have some athlete coming-out announcements, a la Jason Collins, Ayanbadejo said he won’t be lobbying any friends to take the leap. “It’s up to them to come out on their own terms.”

Soundbite: Ayanbadejo decried the notion of “the government telling us who we could love,” explained that supports gay marriage out of solidarity — as the product of an interracial marriage that would have been banned in many states just a decade before his birth. “My dad’s the blackest black you’ll ever see, my mom’s the whitest white you’ll ever see, and I came out this beautiful caramel complexion.”