Ravens win, Ayanbadejo speaks out

Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo is an ally and vocal LGBT advocate. (Photo by Thibous via Wikimedia Commons)

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo continues to use the attention surrounding his team’s Super Bowl victory to highlight his support of marriage rights for same-sex couples.

He reiterated his support during an interview with gay CNN anchor Don Lemon on Feb. 5.

“It’s time that we treat everybody fairly and not only are we trying to dictate who people should love, we’re also trying to dictate who people should be,” Ayanbadejo said. “If a woman wants to wear men’s clothes or if a man wants to wear women’s clothes or you feel like you’re a woman on the inside and you’re really a man, who cares? Let’s just treat everybody equally. Let’s move on. Let’s evolve as a culture, as a people.”

Ayanbadejo described the passage of Maryland’s same-sex marriage referendum last November to Lemon as “trendsetting and trailblazing.”

“I’m so proud just to be a Baltimore Raven and to be in the state of Maryland,” he said. “We’re a state that’s really making a difference.”

The Washington Blade won a bet with San Francisco newspaper Bay Area Reporter as a result of the game’s outcome. According to terms of the bet, BAR will send the Blade staff a lunch of Dungeness crabs and a check for $1,000 to a local charity. The Blade designated Baltimore’s Chase Brexton Health Services to receive the money.