Former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has retained Minneapolis attorney Clayton Halunen to represent him during the team's investigation of Kluwe's allegations of homophobic comments by a Vikings coach. Halunen is co-counseling the case with the National Center for Lesbian Rights (www.NCLRights.org) - a national advocacy organization dedicated to eliminating bias against the LGBT community.

Kluwe reiterates his previously stated intention to "fully cooperate" with the Vikings' investigation, which he considers to be an honorable undertaking by the team. His hiring of legal counsel should not be read as a signal of intent to file a lawsuit, he says.

"I want the truth to come out from the investigation, not in litigation," says Kluwe.

In an article published on the Deadspin website (http://is.gd/EXxEMC), Kluwe alleged that Vikings special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer made derogatory remarks about gays and other members of the LGBT community both to him personally and in team meetings. The alleged remarks were made in 2012, when Kluwe was with the Vikings and also speaking out publicly against passage of a constitutional referendum in Minnesota to restrict marriage to heterosexual-only couples. (Priefer issued a statement "strongly denying" the allegations.)

Kluwe alleged that Priefer's remarks were intended to humiliate him into silence. When that didn't happen, Kluwe alleged, other members of the Vikings management team pressured him to tone down his off-the-field comments in favor of equal marriage rights for all. Finally, the team cut him prior to the start of the 2013 season. He has not played in the NFL since then.

"Chris paid a steep price for speaking out in favor of same-sex marriage rights in 2012 while he was a Vikings player," Halunen says. "Ultimately it may have cost him both his job with the Vikings and his career as an NFL player, along much emotional anguish over what he believed to be a kind of personal attack on him for his views on a vital issue of human rights.

"Even so, Chris is not bitter towards the Vikings, nor does he carry a personal vendetta against anyone associated with the team" Halunen adds. "He's grateful to the Vikings for the great career he had with the team. But he couldn't stand by when someone with as much influence in sports as a member of the Vikings coaching staff makes dangerous and dehumanizing statements against the LGBT community."

Kluwe says he wants "to ensure that everyone, and especially sports leaders who are role models to millions of people, respect the humanity of everyone by not belittling or denigrating people."

For starters, all professional sporting organizations should institute a zero tolerance policy for bigotry and discrimination against members of the LGBT community, Kluwe asserts.

"I can speak up because I can in my situation, knowing that others who are more vulnerable than me can't," he says. "Things are getting better in professional sports for LGBT people," he hastens to add. "But the kind of situation I experienced is still all too common - we can do much better yet."

About Halunen & Associates

With offices in Minneapolis and Chicago, the law firm of Halunen & Associates offers experienced legal representation to protect whistleblowers who have experienced retaliation or are planning to blow the whistle. They also offer experienced legal representation to individuals who are blowing the whistle on government fraud under the False Claims Act and other statutes. For more information on Halunen & Associates, visit the firm's website at http://whistleblower.halunenlaw.com/.

Big Thunder PR
Doug Hovelson, 612-998-0789 or 612-722-5501
doughovelson@msn.com