Chris Kluwe announces settlement in homophobic remarks lawsuit

Chris Kluwe announced the settlement 

Former Minnesota Vikings NFL player Chris Kluwe on Friday announced that he had reached a settlement with the team after he alleged a coach made homophobic remarks.

A press conference formally announcing the settlement has been scheduled for Monday, Kluwe’s lawyer Clayton Haluyen said.

After he was dismissed from the team, amid claims that his support for gay rights was the cause, the Vikings were forced to conduct an investigation into homophobia within the team management.

Kluwe had alleged that assistant coach Mike Priefer in 2012 made homophobic remarks. Priefer was suspended for three games following the investigation.

The former punter announced the lawsuit against the team, for $10 million. He said he would donate any proceeds to LGBT charities.

The settlement announcement will be made on Monday.

In March 2013, Kluwe filed an amicus brief with fellow NFL player Brendon Ayanbadejo, urging the Supreme Court to strike down California’s Proposition 8 ban on equal marriage.

Two months later, he announced that he had been dropped by the Minnesota Vikings, and this year alleged he was “pretty confident” that he had been sacked on account of his gay rights activism, bringing Priefer’s comments to light and threatening a lawsuit.

Priefer has apologised for the comments, and denied claims that he was homophobic, saying that he has gay family members whom he loves.

Liberty Counsel Will Sue Over New Jersey ‘Ex-Gay’ Ban

Predictably, after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a historic bill protecting children from the fraud and psychological destruction of “ex-gay” therapy, the Liberty Counsel has announced that they will sue:

“The New Jersey governor is putting himself in every counseling room, dictating what kind of counseling clients can receive,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “This bill provides a slippery slope of government infringing upon the First Amendment rights of counselors to provide, and patients to receive, counseling consistent with their religious beliefs.”
“This bill is so broad that parents would be prohibited from seeking help for their son who developed unwanted same-sex attractions after being molested by the likes of Jerry Sandusky. Counselors would only be allowed to affirm these unwanted feelings as good and normal. This is absurd and dangerous. This law would inflict serious damage to children, parents, and counselors,” said Staver.
A3371 prohibits only one viewpoint regarding change counseling and, therefore, constitutes viewpoint discrimination. No viewpoint-based restriction on private speech has ever been upheld. The Supreme Court ruled that “the First Amendment forbids the government to regulate speech in ways that favor some viewpoints or ideas at the expense of others.”
Gov. Christie has reportedly said that he is siding with the “experts,” referring to the American Psychological Association’s 2009 Task Force Report cited by the legislature in support of the law. But that Task Force Report specifically states that there is evidence of benefit of such counseling, and any such reports to the contrary were only anecdotal. The Report also states that there is no research – none – regarding the effects of change therapy involving minors. “How can you ban counseling to minors where there is no evidence of harm to minors. Indeed, there is no research on minors at all. This law is politically, not scientifically, motivated,” said Staver.