When superstar athletes express their opinions about gay players in sports, the ripple effect occurs almost instantly. Adrian Peterson gave us a perfect example of that last week when he provided his thoughts on gay marriage.
During an interview with Bruce Murray and Amani Toomer on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Peterson discussed his former teammate Chris Kluwe and the way he was such an outspoken advocate of gay rights. While AP said he does not discriminate against anyone because of their sexual preference, he made it clear he does not support gay marriage.
“To each his own,” Peterson said, via NESN.com. “I’m not with it. But I have relatives that are gay. I’m not biased towards them. I still treat them the same. I love ‘em. But again, I’m not with that. That’s not something I believe in. But to each his own.”
While Peterson will certainly deal with a good amount of backlash for not supporting gay marriage, he was simply being honest. Everyone is entitled to their own personal beliefs, whether they stem from religion or elsewhere. It’s how they handle those beliefs in everyday situations that really makes a difference.
Peterson doesn’t have to support gay marriage. Supporting something and tolerating it or being respectful of it are entirely different concepts. It seems to me that Peterson is saying he does not condone gay marriage, but that he would not judge those who do. There’s a fine line there that is easy to cross, but I don’t think he crossed it with the aforementioned comments.
On a separate note, this NHL star still has the best view on gay teammates.
