Legendary wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin may not seem like a likely supporter of marriage equality, but last week he made some statements on his radio show coming out in support of LGBT rights.

“I’ve got some damned good friends that are gay, and I’m absolutely for same-sex marriage,” Austin said.

Some people may see Austin’s opinion on marriage equality as important as reality star Phil Robertson’s stance against marriage equality. But the significance to Austin’s stance is that it is so surprising. It’s not everyday that you would see a straight male ex-athlete from Texas come out as a supporter of marriage equality.

The importance of having unlikely allies like this is huge for our community. Nowadays, straight allies play a pivotal role in regard to progress toward equality in the LGBT community. The more straight allies we have, the more voices we have to go out and help change hearts and minds on these important legislative issues. If we had more straight allies that were this passionately in support of LGBT rights, even more progress could be made.

Recently, allies like Macklemore have come under fire by the community for voicing their support and then being accused of piggy-backing off the gay community. The important thing, though, is to let our allies be allies to us. Instead of being angry that they don’t know what it’s like to be gay and fight for these rights, as a community, welcoming allies with open arms is a much more positive and productive way to respond.

We often forget how important it is to have this support from those in the straight community as well because some LGBT activists can get caught up demonizing the straight population. This creates a very toxic “us and them” mentality and is extremely harmful to the progress that needs to be made in relation to our rights.

The truth is, we cannot do this alone. The more allies we have, the closer we get to being given the same rights as our straight allies. Attitudes are changing, and it won’t be long before we see the day when LGBT citizens receive equal rights and fair treatment under the law.

dhaynie@mavs.coloradomesa.edu