Saints’ Khalen Saunders to Hold ‘LGBTQ-Friendly’ Football Camp

Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders has announced that he intends to hold an “LGBTQ-Friendly” football camp this summer.

The 6-foot, 324-pound linemen says that his goal is to show football is for “everyone.”

“That’s my goal: to continue to spread positive energy around that because football is for everybody,” Saunders said on the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. “Football is for all.”

Saunders added, “Being an ally is more than just saying that I support, but it’s also kind of showing up. Being in the NFL is very male-dominant and heterosexual dominant, and it’s not really … it feels as though there’s not really a space for the LGBTQ community.”

The Saints defender also discussed his experience at the Pride Football Clinic during Super Bowl week.

“I was able to go out there and get to talk to some of the people participating in it and, man, it was great conversations,” Saunders said. “These are people that feel they have to be hidden. And although they love the sport, they might love the NFL, they might love football in general as a sport, they kind of shy away from it because of orientations or other outside things.”

Saunders also indicated his willingness to do more than talk about his LGBTQ activism. In a post on X, the 324-pounder said he’s willing to fight anyone who has a problem with what he’s doing.

“Oh let’s not forget these hands rated E for everyone lol don’t let this Ally sh*t fool you,” he wrote. “If you got a problem with what I’m doing then come beat my ass abt it actually would be some fun cardio for me You’ll never win fighting with hate against someone fighting with love…”

Saunders did not explicitly say where he felt LGBTQ players were being denied access to football.