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"Professional sports provide a public and fruitful opportunity for the advancement of equal-rights issues, but last week&amp;apos;s comments by former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe suggest that players still risk martyrdom if they stand up for something more than X&amp;apos;s and O&amp;apos;s. In his lengthy Deadspin article &amp;quot;I Was An NFL Player Until I Was Fired By Two Cowards And A Bigot,&amp;quot; Kluwe stated that despite his stellar performance, the Vikings released him due to his public support of same-sex marriage. Kluwe&amp;apos;s allegations may never be proven, but they&amp;apos;ve made for a watershed shamming in sports, where discussions of sexual identity &amp;#x2013; its broadening definitions, changing level of acceptance and increasing role in setting an example for the rest of society &amp;#x2013; continue to accelerate. And momentum was clearly gained in the past 12 months. Although he&amp;apos;s not currently signed to a team, NBA center Jason Collins became the first active male player in the four major American professional sports to come out as gay. And Brittney Griner, the WNBA&amp;apos;s Number One overall draft pick in 2013, began her career by identifying as gay. Slowly, with increasing support &amp;#x2013; and the inevitability of openly gay athletes in locker rooms &amp;#x2013; it seems that history will reflect favorably on even the most outspoken athletes. Here are 17 more who openly support same-sex marriage. &amp;#x2014;Hunter Atkins"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/18-pro-athletes-who-support-same-sex-marriage-20140108/scott-fujita-new-orleans-saints-linebacker-19691231>