It’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week for Manny Pacquiao. On Wednesday, Nike cut ties with the boxing champion after he was caught on tape saying gays were “worse than animals.” Any chance that Pacquiao has learned that out-and-out homophobia is no longer acceptable evaporated when he posted a Bible verse that called for gays to be put to death.
Pacquiao’s day job is serving as a member of the House of Representatives in his native Philippines; he is currently running for a seat in the Senate. In an interview that aired on Monday on TV5, Pacquiao, an outspoken fundamentalist Christian, let it be known what he really thinks about gays. Watch here.
“For me, it’s common sense. Do you see any animals where men are with men and women are with women? The animals are better. They know how to distinguish between male and female. If we approve male on male, female on female, then men are worse than animals.”
Within hours of the (New York) Daily News reporting these remarks, the condemnation came fast and hard. On Tuesday, Pacquiao took to Facebook to apologize–well, sort of.
Translation (via Pacquiao’s Facebook):
“I’m sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals. Please forgive me for those I’ve hurt. I still stand on my belief that I’m against same sex marriage because of what the Bible says, but I’m not condemning LGBT. I love you all with the love of the Lord. God Bless you all and I’m praying for you.”
That wasn’t nearly good enough for veteran gay rights activist Scott Wooledge. He launched a grassroots campaign to pressure Pacquiao’s major endorsers to distance themselves from his homophobia. It bore fruit on Wednesday, when Nike shredded its endorsement deal with him. It denounced Pacquiao’s comments as “abhorrent” and inconsistent with its longstanding support for gay rights.
According to TMZ, Pacquiao tried to save his 10-year relationship with Nike up to the last minute, and personally begged Nike to reconsider. It was to no avail; Nike had already started yanking Pacquiao items from its online store before the official announcement. Even Pacquiao’s own promoter, Bob Arum, condemned the remarks as “insulting to a lot of people” and “diametrically opposed to what I believe.” Arum noted that while Pacquiao’s remarks “can only be viewed as hate speech” by American standards, he was speaking to a Filipino audience. While a 2013 study by Pew Research ranked the Philippines as the 10th most gay-friendly nation in the world, there is still a very strong current of homophobia in the country.
Apparently Pacquiao decided to tap into that current. Just hours after Nike fired him, he made a post on Instagram referencing several verses from Leviticus that have long been used as spiritual kicks in the groin against gays. For instance, he quoted Leviticus 20:13, which has long been interpreted to call for gays to be executed. The post was deleted after two hours, but ABS-CBN News Channel, the Filipino equivalent of CNN and MSNBC, got a screenshot.
ICYMI: Pacquiao posts, deletes Bible verse on gays 'put to death' https://t.co/fnnvym4NU4 pic.twitter.com/TrwjDsriHx
— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) February 17, 2016
So much for being apologetic.
Nike deserves applause for taking a stand against homophobia. But Pacquiao’s other endorsers need to hear from you. He still has deals with Monster energy drinks, Hennessy, Foot Locker, and Butterfinger, among others. You know what to do, folks. Pester them.
