Chris Kluwe, who claims he was released by the Vikings last offseason for being outspoken on same-sex marriage and who has accused an assistant coach of homophobic comments, has retained legal counsel.

The Vikings announced Friday that the former punter’s claims will be investigated independently. Representing Kluwe during the matter will be Minneapolis lawyer Clayton Halunen and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

In a first-person article posted last Thursday on the website Deadspin, Kluwe accused Vikings special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer of using homophobic language during the 2012 season and of wanting him off the team because of his activism in supporting same-sex marriage. Kluwe called Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and former coach Leslie Frazier “cowards” in his article for going along with Priefer’s desire.

Preifer has “vehemently” denied making homophobic comments. The Vikings have stated that Kluwe’s release was for football reasons.

“I want the truth to come out from the investigation, not in litigation,” Kluwe said in a statement released Monday.

Halunen said in a statement that Kluwe is not bitter toward the Vikings, but felt it was necessary to address what he alleges happened during the 2012 season and up until his May 2013 release.

“Chris Kluwe stands up for what he believes is right, even if it costs him personally to do so,” Halunen said in the statement. “It’s obvious to me, as it should be to most thinking people familiar with the situation, that Chris paid a steep price for speaking out in favor of same-sex marriage rights in 2012 while he was a Vikings player. Ultimately, it may have cost him both his job with the Vikings and his career as an NFL player, along with 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. He is 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.”

Follow Chris Tomasson at twitter.com/christomasson.