His own words denigrating LGBT people are giving him a beating, as so-called “pambansang kamao (national fist)” Manny Pacquiao gravely offended particularly LGBT people when he said homosexuals were “mas masahol pa sa hayop (worse than animals)”.
On February 15, Pacquiao said in a recorded interview that “common sense lang. Makakita ka ba ng any animals na lalaki sa lalaki o babae sa babae? Mabuti pa yung hayop marunong kumikilala kung lalaki o lalaki, babae o babae. Ngayon, kung lalaki sa lalaki o babae sa babae, mas masahol pa sa hayop ang tao (Roughly: It’s just common sense. Do you see animals where a male pairs with another male, or female with female? Animals are better in that they discern if a male is male, or female is female. Now if it’s a man with another man or a woman with another woman, then a human is worse than animals).”
It didn’t take long for the counterpunches to come, as – as first – members of the LGBT community lambasted Pacquiao, who is running for a seat in the Philippines’ upcoming senate elections; followed by allies who also took offense in Pacquiao’s statements.
It is, by the way, already established that homosexuality is common in the animal kingdom; and homosexual behavior has been observed in 1,500 animal species.
“To turn the approach on its head: No species has been found in which homosexual behavior has not been shown to exist, with the exception of species that never have sex at all, such as sea urchins and aphis. Moreover, a part of the animal kingdom is hermaphroditic, truly bisexual. For them, homosexuality is not an issue.”
Petter Boeckman
Norwegian Natural History Museum
Pacquiao has already given a “non-apology” – that is, he said he remained against gay marriage but was “not condemning LGBT”.
“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,” Pacquiao wrote on his Facebook page.
The Bible shouldn’t be of comfort to the likes of Pacquiao, considering it bars many of now widely used practices (e.g. eating shrimps and pork).
Not surprisingly, Pacquiao had his Bible-thumping supporters; though – as it’s campaigning time – Pacquiao is in no position to be divisive.
Pacquiao was actually only one of the politicians who said they will not support marriage equality (e.g. former Senator Panfilo Lacson, Valenzuela City 1st District Representative Sherwin Gatchalian also oppose marriage equality). However, Pacquiao was the only one on record who openly maligned LGBT people.
But Pacquiao may still get a seat in the senate (also despite a lackluster performance as a congressman – e.g. in 2014, he reported to work only four times, and yet got all the perks of the job), based on the surveys that count him among the top 12.
And, sadly, that’s the biggest punch given, this time to this country in need of brilliance to help raise it up from the gutters.
