Browns linebacker Scott Fujita makes pro-marriage video

by Anthony Glassman

Cleveland--A familiar face to Browns fans has added his voice to the campaign for marriage equality.

Super Bowl champion Scott Fujita, a Browns linebacker, recorded a video for the Human Rights Campaign�s �Americans for Marriage Equality� campaign, released on December 7.

He joins basketball player Steve Nash, hockey player Sean Avery and football players Michael Strahan and Brendan Ayanbadejo.

�I�m Scott Fujita and I support marriage equality. As an NFL linebacker, I play the game tough but fair. I�ve been married for 12 years, and I know that it is unfair to keep other loving, committed couples from getting married and protecting their families,� he says in the video. �Please join me and a majority of Americans and support marriage equality.�

In addition to sports stars, others who have added their weight to the campaign range from Newark Mayor Cory Booker and NAACP chairman Julian Bond to actor-comedian John Leguizamo and Mo�Nique.

The campaign dovetailed from HRC�s work in helping get the New York state marriage law passed and their �New Yorkers for Marriage Equality� ad blitz.

Fujita�s sentiments on equality may have been influenced by his father, who is Japanese-American and was interned in a relocation camp during World War II.

The day after his video was released on HRC�s website, the organization also commended the National Basketball Association, which is now the third major sports league in the country to institute sexual orientation nondiscrimination protections in their latest contract. A similar policy is now in place for the National Football League and Major League Baseball, both of which added the protections this year.

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