When college football player Michael Sam made his first public appearance since he came out publicly as gay last weekend, the virulently anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church was there to meet him. But they weren’t the only ones.
On Saturday, hundreds of Michael Sam supporters—perhaps as many as a thousand—lined up outside the University of Missouri’s home game against Tennessee. Sam, who played defensive end for Missouri during his college career, was in attendance. It was his first public appearance since he came out on Saturday.
The Westboro Baptist Church frequently pickets against out gay people, but their protest at the Missouri game was dwarfed by the pro-Michael Sam counter-protest. Sam’s supporters tweeted photos and words of solidarity under the hashtag #StandWithSam.
Here’s what Sam tweeted in response:
Thank you for all of my Mizzou family for your support. Divided we are weak, Together we are Strong. #OneMizzou pic.twitter.com/SMAPZHk2hX
— Michael Sam (@MikeSamFootball) February 16, 2014Sam, a Cotton Bowl champion and SEC Defensive Player of the Year, is a strong prospect in the NFL draft. If he gets drafted onto an NFL team, he will become the first openly gay active player in the history of the league.
Ned Resnikoff is an urban policy analyst, researcher, writer, and editor. His byline has appeared in a variety of publications, including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Dissent, and The Nation. He writes the newsletter Public Comment, which can be found at publiccomment.blog.