Manny Pacquiao Issues Apology After Comparing Gay People to Animals

Manny Pacquiao is in the news again for making controversial statements about gay marriage.

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Back in 2012, Manny Pacquiao came under fire—and was actually banned from doing an interview in a mall in Los Angeles—after he made some controversial statements about gay marriage. He is steadfastly against it because of his religious beliefs, and while he did eventually apologize for condemning gay people in 2012, he hasn’t backed away from his stance on gay marriage.

Early Tuesday in the Philippines, Pacquiao—who is currently a Senate candidate in his native country—and several other Senate candidates were asked to express their thoughts on gay marriage. Pacquiao once again talked about how he’s against it, but this time, he decided to offer up a comparison between gay people and animals to try and illustrate why he feels as though gay marriage is wrong.

“It’s just common sense,” he said, according to reports. “Have you seen any animal having male-to-male or female-to-female relations?”

Pacquiao went on to say that “if you have male-to-male or female-to-female [relationships], then people are worse than animals.”

Obviously, Pacquiao’s comments didn’t sit well with most people, and almost immediately, many celebrities in the Philippines called him out for making them. People on social media did, too, so a short time ago, Pacquiao took to his Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts to offer up this apology:

Pacquiao is scheduled to take part in the final fight of his boxing career on April 9 against Timothy Bradley. It’ll be interesting to see if his latest comments end up having any effect on it. It’ll also be interesting to see if they affect his bid for a Senate seat in the Philippines as he is currently one of the favorites to win a seat. Stay tuned for additional reactions to his comments.

Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to sportstips@complex.com.

[via ESPN]

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