Marc Solomon, the longtime advocate for marriage equality, was one of the key recruiters behind the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Rays signing the amicus brief supporting same-sex marriage, which will come before the Supreme Court in April. The San Francisco Giants signed it as well, in addition to Nike, which outfits many high school, college and professional sports teams and leagues.
Solomon, the national campaign director for Freedom To Marry, sent Outsports this quick synopsis of how it all went down:
“When I was in Massachusetts running MassEquality, Robert and Myra Kraft, the owners of the Patriots, signed on in support as individuals. This time, when we went back to Mr. Kraft, he was unequivocal in lending the support of the Patriots simply, he said, because it’s the right thing to do.
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“I was especially impressed with the leadership of the Tampa Bay Rays and their team president Brian Auld. After all, Tampa is a more conservative place than Boston or San Francisco, where the Giants signed on as well. I had the chance to talk with Auld, and the Rays were unequivocal both in their support and in their willingness to let others know of it. That’s leadership. And given that they joined the Super Bowl and World Series champs in signing the friend-of-the-court brief, it wouldn’t shock me if a championship comes to Tampa soon! I always theorized that maybe it was marriage equality coming to Massachusetts in 2004 that reversed the curse for the Red Sox!”
Babe Ruth would be proud.
