mannypacquiaoYou may have heard yesterday that boxer Manny Pacquiao, when asked about his stance on gay marriage, made some, shall we say… inelegant comments. OK, they were homophobic … OK, Pacman was a total douche bag.
“If we approve male on male, female on female [relationships], then man is worse than animals,” he said during an interview.
Those comments took him from “bad-boy” to “Bad, boy!”
Ironically enough, as is often the case with men so uncomfortable with their own sexuality that they feel threatened at the thought women do not find them desirable while other men might (I’m looking at the corpse of Nino Scalia, natch), Pacquiao nonetheless used the animal kingdom to justify his homophobia. “Will you see any animals where male is to male and female is to female?” he croaked out inarticulately.
Thing is, he has a right to say what he thinks. Truth is, I wonder why anyone would give a flying ef what some punch-drunk boxer — himself barely above the lower primates by profession — would think about the issues of the day. No one could possibly believe his policies are relevant to our daily lives. So, let him be a homophobe … though he should know what the price of his free speech is. (Hint: Turns out, it ain’t “free.”)
Earlier today, Nike, with whom Pacquiao has had an endorsement deal since 2006, exercised its own First Amendment right — the right to association with those it chooses. “We find Manny Pacquiao’s comments abhorrent” Nike said in a statement. (Memo to Manny: “Abhorrent” means “bad.”) “Nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the LGBT community. … We no longer have a relationship with Manny Pacquiao.”
Manny tried to back-peddle, saying he apologized to “homosexuals” if he “hurt” them, though not really backing off his same-sex marriage position. (P.S. Manny: Nike used the term LGBT community; we like that more than “homosexuals.” The same way you prefer “boxer” to “brain damaged punching bag.”)
Honestly, this is nothing new, so I wonder why Nike didn’t sever its deal with Pacman in 2012, when he also opposed gay marriage publicly. At the time, his opponent Floyd Mayweather came out in support of same-sex marriage. “I’m an American citizen and I believe people should live their life the way they want,” Mayweather said then; yesterday, he again reiterated his support for gay rights.
Manny really should be more judicious about whom he attacks. Anyone who makes a living standing half-naked in silk shorts while grunting and sweating with another adult man really has no room to criticize. Bye, Felicia.