Hockey Star's Marriage Support Decried by Sports Agents

Hockey star and fashionista Sean Avery joined a roster of entertainment and political personalities as a "New Yorker for Marriage Equality" in a 30-second video, prompting the president and vice president of a sports agency--a father-son team--to come out on the opposite side of the issue. Now equality organizations are taking note of the difference of opinion.

Up until Avery's participation in the Human Rights Campaign-sponsored series of video spots, "One type of New York celebrity was conspicuously absent: the athlete," reported the New York Times on May 7.

Avery's video message stands out in a sporting world still stereotyped as homophobic.

"No active male player in a major American team sport has declared his homosexuality, and homosexual slurs remain in use to insult opponents and officials," the Times noted.

"The places I've played and lived the longest have been in West Hollywood, Calif., when I played for the L.A. Kings, and when I moved to New York, I lived in Chelsea for the first four years," the hockey star told the New York Times. "I certainly have been surrounded by the gay community. And living in New York and when you live in L.A., you certainly have a lot of gay friends."

Avery told the newspaper that he thought his gay friends and their families should be treated the same way heterosexual families are.

"Maybe I can help, and I jumped at this opportunity," he said.

GLBT equality advocates praised the sports hero.

"Sean Avery is a true leader on the ice and off," the HRC's Brian Ellner told the publication. "His commitment as the first New York professional athlete to campaign for marriage equality is an important step as we grow the majority of New Yorkers who already want all loving and committed New York couples to have the same rights."

But a vice president from one sports agency tweeted a post calling Avery's pro-marriage equality message "misguided," reported Fox Sports on May 10.

"In Twitter posts Monday, Todd Reynolds, the vice president of Uptown Sports--based in Burlington, Ontario--voiced his disapproval of Avery's stance," the Fox Sports article said.

"Very sad to read Sean Avery's misguided support of same-gender 'marriage,' " tweeted Reynolds. "Legal or not, it will always be wrong."

The tweet drew heated reactions, the article said. Reynolds hastened to "clarify" his earlier post, following up with a tweet that read, "This is not hatred or bigotry towards gays. It is not intolerance in any way shape or form."

Reynolds went on to add, "I believe we are all equal," and to insist, "But I believe in the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman. This is my personal viewpoint. I Do not hate anyone."

Reynolds' father, Don Reynolds, the president of the agency, agreed with his son's stance, telling the National Post of Canada, "It's sad. I mean, my personal position is that I do not support gay marriage, and I think it's wrong, as well. It's not politically correct to, I guess, give your opinion about a thing like that. It's politically correct on the other side, for people to say, 'Sure, I support gay marriage.' "

Gay and lesbian families in Canada have enjoyed the right to marry since 2005.

"But the majority, I think, of Canadians would say that they don't agree with gay marriage--that man and woman were created to be married, not man and man or man and horse, you know?" Reynolds continued.

Equality Advocates React

Reynolds' equating of marriage for committed same-sex couples with bestiality instantly resulted in a press release from the Human Rights Campaign in which the equality organization's head, Joe Solmonese, denounced the comment and called for an apology.

"Say It Ain't So: Hockey Players' Agent Compares Marriage Equality to Bestiality," the May 10 release was titled.

"After Mr. Reynolds is briefed on what marriage is, we call on him to apologize for and retract his outrageous misstatement," Solmonese stated. "This is hate and bigotry of the highest order and has no place in sports or in society. We urge the players represented by Mr. Reynolds to reject his ignorant remarks."

The release indicated that hockey pros and their agents were already lining up with Avery.

"As an admirer of Brendan Burke I felt the need to return to Twitter due to my distaste of @uptownhockey take on the issue of gay marriage," tweeted Andrew Warren, an agent.

Brendan Burke was a college hockey player and the son of star player and Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke. Brendan came out as gay and received support from his father and from the sporting community. Brendan had reportedly been weighing two different career paths, either hockey management or politics. Tragically, Brendan Burke died in a car crash only months after emerging from the closet.

"I agree with Sean Avery and his comments on the same sex marriage issue @NortonSports," tweeted Paul Bissonnette, a star player with the American National Hockey League. "If two people are happy together let them be happy."

There is a small, but growing number of athletes who have spoken out in favor of full legal recognition for same-sex families. Baltimore Ravens player Brendon Ayanbadejo made headlines in 2009 when he lent his support to family parity.

"America is not Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Mormon, Catholic, or any other religion that is out there," wrote Ayanbadejo in an April 23, 2009, op-ed essay at the Huffington Post. "And the pantheon of gods can attest that there are hundreds of them. We are a secular capitalistic democracy. That's it."

Added the linebacker, "If Britney Spears can party it up in Vegas with one of her boys and go get married on a whim and annul her marriage the next day, why can't a loving same sex couple tie the knot? How could our society grant more rights to a heterosexual one-night stand wedding in Vegas than a gay couple that has been together for 3, 5, 10 years of true love?"

Noted the player, "The divorce rate in America is currently 50%. I am willing to bet that same sex marriages have a higher success rate than heterosexual marriages."

Ayanbadejo compared the progress of the GLBT equality movement to historical struggles for equality from racial minorities and women, noting that many legal disparities have been overcome already.

He then made a prediction for the future. "I think we will look back in 10, 20, 30 years and be amazed that gays and lesbians did not have the same rights as everyone else. How did this ever happen in the land of the free and the home of the brave? Are we really free?"

Another NFL player, the New Orleans Saints' defensive captain Scott Fujita, offered his own take on the issue in a Sept. 29, 209, article that appeared at The Nation. Fujita took note of Ayanbadejo's prognostication, saying, "I hope he's right in his prediction, and I hope even more that it doesn't take that long. People could look at this issue without blinders on... the blinders imposed by their church, their parents, their friends or, in our case, their coaches and locker rooms."

Added Fujita, "I wish they would realize that it's not a religion issue. It's not a government issue. It's not even a gay/straight issue or a question of your manhood. It's a human issue. And until more people see that, we're stuck arguing with people who don't have an argument."

No major sports stars in America have come out as gay during their careers, although a handful--such as basketball star John Amaeche and NFL football's Esera Tuaolo.

In England, two star athletes--Gareth Thomas, a rugby player, and Steven Davies, a cricket pro--have recently emerged from the closet.