Another month means another Pink person of this month. And this time for the month February it is actually a straight guy (although many gay guys would love to have him on their “team”).
His name is Brendon Ayanbadejo and an American football linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National 
Football League (NFL). This year they became the Superbowl Champions, winning against the San Francisco 49ers on the third of February. Although that is a great accomplish, it is not why Brendon is our Pink person of this month……Brendon is a dedicated advocate for legalizing same sex marriage, social justice and is not afraid as a public figure and a professional straight football player to speak up about it. As you already know, the more professional athletes that speak up about this and show their support, the better. Many look up to these people as role models, so it’s great to Brendon standing up for such an important cause. That deserves a well-earned appreciation and respect by the pink community!!!
Brendon is born at the 6th of September 1976 in Chicago to a Nigerian father and an American mother of Irish descent. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Nigeria, but after his parents separated he returned to the United States with his mother, settling in Chicago and then Santa Cruz, California.
He is the younger brother of fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo. The two were teammates on the Miami Dolphins in 2003 and they were on the same team again in 2007, this time for the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins during his college years and got signed by the Atlanta Falcons in 1999. Brendon has been selected to the Pro Bowl three times as a special teams player. He played also for the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Toronto Argonauts and for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Brendon is married and has one 6 year old daughter 
Anaya and one year old son Amadeus.
Brendon has always been next to a NFL player also a writer and a fanatic about social justice. Since 2009, Brendon has advocated for
legalizing same-sex marriage. As an NFL player, he’s super beefy and very sexy, and also shows a lot of support to the gay community. The sexy NFL linebacker has been showing such huge support for gay marriage and has participated in some sexy NOH8 photo shoots that shout loud and clear that he supports the gays.
He most recently voiced his support for efforts to uphold marriage equality in Maryland and even offered two tickets to the Superbowl night’s season opener to help fundraising along. Now, that last piece did not go over well with one Maryland state lawmaker. State delegate, Emmett Burns, sent a letter to Ravens team owner, saying Ayanbadejo should “concentrate on football,” and keep quiet on the gay marriage issue, which Brendon Ayanbadejo says he is not going to do. Brendon wrote an article in the Huffington Post sayin: “same-sex marriage – what’s the big deal? Love is love. Love is blind. You should be able to love the person, regardless of what gender or whatever”. Brendon said; ”I did it just because it was the right thing to do. And we have to have everybody on the same page in treating everybody equally. And, you know, the fight won’t stop until that happens”.
Brendon got a lot of support worldwide. From other players on other teams in the NFL, but also from fans from other teams. He has heard from people that didn’t even care about football and that are now football fans and, of course, from the LGBT community. Brendon says: “They had my back and I have theirs. It has been a major outpouring from all over the world, I got letters from Brazil, Chile and Canada. This is something we need. We need it here in the United States and the world needs it, and it’s time we start treating our brothers, sisters, friends, relatives equally just like anybody else is treated”.
Some people are surprised by his outspoken, because football is a contact sport. It is seen as extremely masculine, and most people had this idea that there would not be support for gay people, for the LGBT community, or for same-sex marriage. Brendon reacted on this when in an interview he was asked about this too.
Brendon: “Yeah, there’s a lot of people that are surprised, but I’m surprised that they’re surprised. You know, I wake up every morning, I give both of my kids a kiss and I give them a hug and tell him have a great day and I tell them I love them and how special they are and, you know, we’re people just like everybody else. We have emotions. We’re sensitive. We cry. We laugh. We do everything that everybody else does. We’re in the communities feeding people, educating people. There are so many things that athletes do and it doesn’t really get recognized internationally when an athlete does a good thing. Even though there is not yet a proven gay gene, I believe people are born gay. It is a natural phenomenon. There are definitely gay players in the NFL. I’m not saying that there are not. Some people say the gay guys in the NFL aren’t coming out because they’re scared and worried about what’s going to happen to their careers. But I think the first person who comes out and says they are gay, everyone is going to write a book and do stories about them. They’re going to make a lot more money by saying they’re gay than by not saying they’re gay. But are we ready to hear that? Is that person going to be comfortable to do that? I don’t think they are right now because of society and the way things are”.
My favorite thing I learned about the father of two children is that recently, in response to a fan on Twitter, Brendon stated that his biggest 
accomplishments were “marriage equality support and playing in a Superbowl.” Well he played and won the last one and it seems with all the support he gets and gives (no pun intented LOL) Brendon is not only achieving the support for marriage equality, but already getting legalization for same-sex nuptials in nine U.S. States for now.
See here his video in support of gay marriage. You gotta love this guy! ;o)
So thank you Brendon for all the support and being on our side, bringing this to everybody’s attention and not afraid to talk about it. I think you are an inspiration to many people. Keep up the good work. If you want to find out more about him or show him our support too, then check out his facebook fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/BrendonAyanbadejoFanPage
HAVE A PINK SPORTY DAY AND KEEP ON SMILING!!!
BIG KISS,
LESLEY