Minnesota Ballot: Chris Kluwe Resigns Blogging Gig Over Newspaper Same-Sex Marriage Editorial

Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings, a proponent of same-sex marriage who has been campaigning against a marriage amendment in the state, quit a blogging gig with the St. Paul Pioneer Press after the paper ran an editorial taking a neutral position that critics say is anything but.

Kluwe wrote on Twitter, "My main issue with the Pioneer Press editorial is this: It's a lie. I have no problem with them taking a position I disagree with. What concerns me is them presenting a completely biased piece (word choice, examples used, conclusions) as a neutral position. That's not only irresponsible journalism, it's massively hypocritical.

"Have the courage of your convictions. Attach your name to what you believe in. Don't try to confuse people through obfuscation and selected presentation of arguments. It ruins discussion, and you should be ashamed. I will not abide lying. A stable society has to be built on a foundation of trust, and that editorial just eroded some of it away."

Kluwe said that he will try to find a new blogging gig.

The Pioneer Press editorial board said that they do not take positions on ballot initiatives, but they also took issue with same-sex marriage supporters efforts.

They wrote, "As it turns out, the debate isn't exactly about equal rights and privileges. Opponents of the measure are clear that they do not want to settle for a civil union status that would guarantee the same rights and privileges to same-sex unions that are given to traditional marriages. It is "marriage" that they want. In effect, a union by any other name is not as sweet. This insistence on "marriage" as opposed to rights and privileges seems to be about same-sex marriage being blessed by governmental endorsement. Both sides clearly want the government to be in the marriage business; the difference is in how it's defined. It's the principle of the thing. Some argue that as a practical matter there seems to be less interest by same-sex partners in actually being married than in redefining what marriage is. In Iowa, for instance, Wikipedia reports, that only 815 same-sex couples married in the first year after legalization."

The complete editorial is here. Recent polls show support and opposition is running neck and neck.