Floyd Mayweather was asked by TMZ Sports, ?Floyd, did you hear what Manny Pacquiao said? He said gays are worse than animals??
Loved in some quarters, disdained in others, when Manny Pacquiao plays to his base he says the darnedest things.
The latest darnedest thing he said concerns his views on homosexuality.
It started with a post on his official Facebook account where he stated, ?I rather obey the Lord?s command than obeying the desires of the flesh. I?m not condemning anyone, but I?m just telling the truth of what the Bible says. The truth from the Bible is what changed me from my old ways.?
For anyone who might question his biblical bona fides, Manny quoted a Bible verse from 1 Corinthians 6:9, saying, ?Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men.?
Then he added for good measure, ?God bless everyone. I love you all.?
The reaction to his comments was swift, somewhat swifter than his response.
When he was asked on Monday, ?Sir, are you for or against same-sex marriage?? the two-term congressman who is running for a seat in the Philippine senate told TV5, ?It?s just common sense. Do you see any animals of the same sex mating? Animals are better off. They can distinguish between male and female. Now if men are mating with men and women with women, then they are worse than animals.?
No one expects Manny to march in a Gay Pride Parade or pay to watch John Waters films. But he was taken to task for making similar remarks in 2012, remarks for which he later apologized.
It?s like the old saying goes, live and don?t learn.
Although same-sex marriage is illegal in the Philippines, where more than 80 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, the blowback was immediate.
His beliefs may be strongly held, but Manny was forced to recant, or at the very least reconsider what he had said.
?I?m sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals,? he said in a video message on his Twitter account. ?I?m sorry for everyone who got hurt due to my comparison of gay people to animals. It was my mistake. Please forgive me for those who I?ve hurt. But this does not change my position against same-sex marriage. That?s what I believe. My only mistake is comparing gay people to animals.?
That should have been the end of it, but of course it was not.
One website which apparently knows a thing or two about the sexual habits of animals in the Wild Kingdom pointed out that dolphins, penguins, giraffes, and bonobos have bisexual tendencies. That doesn?t make it right. But it does suggest that the Lord works in mysterious ways.
Not to be outdone, and never foregoing an opportunity to speak his mind, Floyd Mayweather, in New York?s Diamond District for one of his shopping sprees, was asked by TMZ Sports, ?Floyd, did you hear what Manny Pacquiao said? He said gays are worse than animals.?
Mayweather didn?t skip a beat.
?I think we should just stay positive,? he said. ?I feel we should just let people live their lives, the way they want to live their lives. I don?t have nothing against anyone. To each his own.?
