You Have to See It to Believe It (Updated)

It all started out when a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, Brendan Ayanbadejo, expressed his support for same-sex marriage (which, as you'll remember, is on the ballot in Maryland this year).

Apparently, Maryland Delegate Emmett C. Burns, Jr., thought this was going too far and wrote to the owner of the Ravens demanding that he shut Ayanbadejo up:

Rob Tisinai points out the problem with this:

This is a state legislator…writing on official Maryland House of Delegates letterhead to a man’s boss asking him to shut down his employee’s free speech.

It's not a matter of criticizing Ayanbadejo's stance on the issue. It's a matter of using one's public office to attempt to quash a private citizen's freedom of speech by demanding that his boss shut him up. That, to me, says "government interference in fundamental rights."

Well, Burns got a response from another football player, Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings:

I find it inconceivable that you are an elected official of Maryland's state government. Your vitriolic hatred and bigotry make me ashamed and disgusted to think that you are in any way responsible for shaping policy at any level. The views you espouse neglect to consider several fundamental key points, which I will outline in great detail (you may want to hire an intern to help you with the longer words)[.]

That's just the beginning. Read the whole thing -- it's perfect.

Here's an appearance by Kluwe on The Ed Show discussing the whole flap. Ayabadejo has been fairly quiet about it, but maybe that's the best strategy -- he's got a lot of supporters.

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Oh, and as Tisinai points out, Burns really put his foot in it with his remark about no other NFL players having expressed an opinion on marriage equality. The list includes:

Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita, Houston Texans linebacker Connor Barwin, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, New England Patriots safety Bret Lockett, New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie

And where, you might ask, are those stalwart defenders of "free speech" Tony Perkins, Brian Brown, Peter LaBarbera, and the whole crew? Yeah, exactly. Update: Kluwe published a "cleaned up" version of his letter that is, if anything, even funnier. Read it at his blog.