NFL’s Man of the Year, Matt Birk of the Ravens, speaks out against gay marriage

NFL’s Man of the Year, Matt Birk of the Ravens, speaks out against gay marriage October 2, 2012

The story, from the Baltimore Sun:

Ravens center Matt Birk is expected to film a video this week opposing Maryland’s new same-sex marriage law, making him the second player on the team to take a public stand on the referendum.

Birk, a Roman Catholic and father of six, is pressing a view opposite that of teammate Brendon Ayanbadejo, the Ravens linebacker who is supporting the new law.

“I took a stance like other guys have done before me,” Birk said Monday at team headquarters in Owings Mills. “Obviously, we all have opinions. … It’s certainly a very inflammatory, very hot topic, because it’s important.”

The video signals a new phase in the campaign against same-sex marriage, which until now has been focused mostly on some churches and online via fundraising emails. Supporters, on the other hand, have issued a steady stream of news releases and YouTube videos with prominent people endorsing their cause.

“We saved our videos for October. We’ll start doing more of them,” said Derek McCoy, executive director of the Maryland Marriage Alliance, which plans to release the Birk video as soon as Wednesday.

The Baltimore Sun reported last week that both sides have reserved time with television stations to air commercials starting this month.

Birk, who grew up in St. Paul, Minn., is also active in that state’s marriage debate and recorded a 31/2-minute Web-only video for the Minnesota Catholic Conference that was released Monday. He also wrote an opinion piece was published Sunday in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

“With good reason, government recognizes marriages and gives them certain legal benefits so they can provide a stable, nurturing environment for the next generation of citizens: our kids,” Birk wrote.

Read more.  Meantime, you can watch Birk’s video, released last weekend to battle the Minnesota initiative, below.


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