Outspoken Marriage Equality Ally Scott Fujita Retires from New Orleans Saints: PHOTOS

NFL linebacker and Super Bowl champ Scott Fujita, who has been speaking out since 2009 for marriage equality and has appeared in videos for Americans for Marriage Equality, among others, retired from the New Orleans Saints yesterday, making the announcement with photos from Peru he posted to Twitter.

ESPN reports:

Linebacker Scott Fujita signed a one-day contract with the New Orleans Saints on Monday and then announced his retirement after 11 seasons in the NFL. Fujita signed his contract in Machu Picchu, which is located in the Andes Mountains in Peru. He's there with former Saints teammate Steve Gleason, who is battling Lou Gehrig's Disease.

In a statement from the team, Fujita said he couldn't think of a better place to be to announce his retirement.

"What better place to reach the end of the road than here at 10,000 feet above sea level, in the Peruvian Andes overlooking Machu Picchu with my dear friend Steve Gleason?"

Said Fujita in a NYT column earlier this year:

I support marriage equality for so many reasons: my father’s experience in an internment camp and the racial intolerance his family experienced during and after the war, the gay friends I have who are really not all that different from me, and also because of a story I read a few years back about a woman who was denied the right to visit her partner of 15 years when she was stuck in a hospital bed...

...Believe it or not, conversations about issues like gay marriage take place in locker rooms every day. In many respects, the football locker room is a microcosm of society. While there is certainly an element of bravado in our sport, football players are not the meatheads many think we are. For some of my friends who raise personal objections to marriage equality, they still recognize the importance of being accepting. And many of them also recognize that regardless of what they choose to believe or practice at home or at their church, that doesn’t give them the right to discriminate.

NFL Linebacker Scott Fujita: 'I Support Marriage Equality for So Many Reasons'

NFL linebacker Scott Fujita, who has been speaking out since 2009 and has since appeared in videos from Americans for Marriage Equality among others, pens a stunning piece for the NYT about why he's an advocate for marriage equality:

I support marriage equality for so many reasons: my father’s experience in an internment camp and the racial intolerance his family experienced during and after the war, the gay friends I have who are really not all that different from me, and also because of a story I read a few years back about a woman who was denied the right to visit her partner of 15 years when she was stuck in a hospital bed.

My belief is rooted in a childhood nurtured by a Christian message of love, compassion and acceptance. It’s grounded in the fact that I was adopted and know there are thousands of children institutionalized in various foster programs, in desperate need of permanent, safe and loving homes, but living in states that refuse to allow unmarried couples, including gays and lesbians, to adopt because they consider them not fit to be parents.

In articulating all my feelings about marriage equality, I almost don’t know where to begin. And perhaps that’s part of the problem. Why do we have to explain ourselves when it comes to issues of fairness and equality? Why is common sense not enough?

Fujita adds:

Some think football players like me should just keep our mouths shut and focus on the game. But we’re people first, and football players a distant second. Football is a big part of what we do, but a very small part of who we are. And historically, sports figures like Jackie Robinson, Billie Jean King and Muhammad Ali have been powerful agents for social change. That’s why the messages athletes send — including the way they treat others and the words they use — can influence many people, especially children.

Believe it or not, conversations about issues like gay marriage take place in locker rooms every day. In many respects, the football locker room is a microcosm of society. While there is certainly an element of bravado in our sport, football players are not the meatheads many think we are. For some of my friends who raise personal objections to marriage equality, they still recognize the importance of being accepting. And many of them also recognize that regardless of what they choose to believe or practice at home or at their church, that doesn’t give them the right to discriminate.

Acceptance by Example, on the Field and at Home [nyt]

NFL Linebacker Scott Fujita is an American for Marriage Equality: VIDEO

Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita, who endorsed the National Equality March and made clear his support for gay rights back in 2009, has recorded a video in support of HRC's Americans for Marriage Equality campaign.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

New Orleans Saint Fujita

Aside from his views on gay rights, New Orleans Saints linebacker Scott Fujita seems like he has a great head on his shoulders (not to mention a vgl one).

Watch him talk about his adoption and upbringing, AFTER THE JUMP...

New Orleans Saint Scott Fujita Speaks Out on Tebow Ad, Gay Rights

New Orleans Saints linebacker Scott Fujita, who has been vocal in his support for gay rights in the past, spoke to reporters about the 'Focus on the Family' Tim Tebow ad, the NYT reports:

"The issue resonates with Fujita because he was adopted, and Fujita said he respected Tebow for standing up for what he believed in.' The idea of focusing on the family — who wouldn’t agree with that?' Fujita said. 'But the means of doing so, he and I might not see eye to eye all the way.' When Fujita was born in 1979, his biological mother, he said, was in her teens and she gave him up for adoption because she did not have the means to raise a child. 'I’m just so thankful she had the courage and the support system to be able to carry out the pregnancy,' Fujita said. 'I wouldn’t expect that of everybody.'"

As for the ad's timing, Fujita said, "The idea of doing it at the Super Bowl is going to raise some eyebrows. Do they have the right? Absolutely. Is it going to offend some people? Absolutely."

Fujita also talked about having progressive gay rights views and speaking openly about them within the NFL:

"By and large, the players are more tolerant than they get credit for. It’s not a big issue. Some guys will think you are crazy for believing one way, but they’ll still accept you....It’s just me standing up for equal rights. It’s not that courageous to have an opinion if you think it’s the right thing and you believe it wholeheartedly.”

Fujita made similar statements in an October '09 interview in the Huffington Post:

"I have no concern about [being stigmatized] whatsoever. I know who I am. My wife knows who I am. I don't care one way or the other Dave. I imagine that when some of this gets out guys in the locker room might give me a hard time, and they always give me a hard time. They call me the Pinko Communist Fag from Berkeley. I'm used to it. I can take it all."

And his most salient point:

"By and large in this country the issue of gay rights and equality should be past the point of debate. Really, there should be no debate anymore."

The Saints Linebacker Who Speaks His Mind [nyt]

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