Brendon Ayanbadejo and Washington Blade Announce Special LGBT Sports Edition

WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a press conference today in downtown Washington, DC, Washington Blade Editor, Kevin Naff, announced that three-time National Football League (NFL) Pro Bowl award winner and 2013 Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl Champ, Brendon Ayanbadejo, will serve as the guest editor of an August 30th special-edition issue of the newspaper focused on LGBT issues in professional sports. Located in the nation’s capital, the Washington Blade is the oldest, national newspaper of record for the LGBT community.

“The topic of gay athletes in professional sports has generated significant national attention, and as more athletes ponder coming out while continuing to play, we felt the time was right to publish a first-ever, special sports edition of the Washington Blade,” said the Washington Blade’s Editor, Kevin Naff. “In another first, we’re excited today to be announcing that Brendon Ayanbadejo, a champion for equality both on and off the field, will serve as guest editor for our special sports edition.”

Brendon Ayanbadejo is a long-time, outspoken ally for LGBT equality and since 2009 has publicly advocated for marriage equality for same-sex couples. In 2013, Ayanbadejo and his NFL colleague, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, filed a joint amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage in the California Prop 8 case currently in front of the court.

Naff continued, “There has been no one more visibly an ally in the fight for equality in professional sports than Brendon, who publicly endorsed marriage equality in 2009. It was a courageous stand, and his advocacy has undoubtedly saved lives and given hope to young athletes coming to terms with their sexual orientation.”

The Washington Blade was founded in 1969 as a black and white, one-sheet community newsletter distributed in D.C.-area bars. In October 2009, the Washington Blade celebrated its 40th anniversary as an award-winning news source with a large following in print and online. Readers locally and around the world have come to rely on the media outlet’s unmatched coverage of LGBT news, earning the paper the moniker “the newspaper of record for the LGBT community.

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