There was a time not long ago, we had to hide the ways
we showed our love for one another, cuz people hated the gays.
Hounded by police we were, all across the nation,
told by leaders of the church–“you’re an abomination”.
Cast out by our families, and forced onto the street,
to lives of drugs and violence, to disease that can’t be beat.
Discrimination and bigotry, we had to face it all,
told by haters we would cause this great country’s fall.
As the years went by however, things began to change.
people started knowing us, and we became less strange.
On the big screen and the small, we began to be accepted,
by our friends and family, we were less rejected.
Now here we are in 2016, and everything is great,
free to marry, free to love, we’ve said goodbye to hate.
Right?
Mmmmmm, no. Some folks (::ahem:: Manny Pacquiao ::ahem::) are keeping the hate alive:
Manny Pacquiao has provoked a storm of controversy in his home country after saying people in same-sex relationships “are worse than animals”. The 37-year-old, who is running for a seat in the Philippines senate in May’s elections as a conservative Christian, made the remark in a video posted on local TV5’s election site.
“It’s common sense,” the eight times world champion, who later apologised, said. “Do you see animals mating with the same sex? Animals are better because they can distinguish male from female. If men mate with men and women mate with women they are worse than animals.”
People like myself are worse than animals because we have sex with members of the same sex*. Uh-huh. No explanation why same-sex sexual interactions-which don’t harm anyone-are so bad. There’s no need for him to be explicit though. I suspect his anti-gay bigotry is connected to his conservative Christian beliefs. The two often go hand in hand (I’m sure he probably thinks “gay sex is icky, therefore bad” as well).
Right about now though, Pacquiao may be regretting his comments as one of his biggest endorsements-Nike-recently dropped him:
Nike announced it has dropped Manny Pacquiao in the wake of the boxer’s controversial remarks where he said those in gay relationships “are worse than animals.”
“We find Manny Pacquiao’s comments abhorrent,” Nike said Wednesday in a statement. “Nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the LGBT community.”
Kudos to Nike for its swift condemnation of Pacquiao’s hateful comments. The boxer/politician later offered something that I’m sure he thought worked as an apology, but falls short (especially since he only apologized after he received significant backlash):
“I’m sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals,” Pacquiao wrote. “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.”
Aw, gosh golly. I’m really feeling the love from him now that he says he loves LGBT people. That totally feels genuine. Not.
* He’s quite wrong about animals not engaging in same-sex sexual behavior. He’s also wrong about the bible having anything to say about same-sex marriage. He really ought to work on backing his opinions with facts and evidence. I’ll be over in the corner holding my breath waiting for that to happen.
What an ignoramus. Although I suspect he doesn’t believe in the reality of biological evolution, does he believe in Google? Because, you know, our closest living relatives may be of interest:
Also:
Sure sounds like humans could learn a lot from our cousins. Especially Manny Pacquiao.
Is that your own poem?? If so, it looks as if, in addition to an excellent writer-in-general, there’s a poet looking to break out of you, Tony. 🙂
rq:
Forgot to respond to this. Sorry. Yes, I wrote the poem myself. Took a bit of time and work. I’m glad you like it!