Boxer Manny Pacquiao posted a Bible
verse on his Instagram account calling for gays “to be put to
death,” a day after he lost a contract with apparel giant Nike over
disparaging comments he made against gays.
Pacquiao captioned a photo of himself
and his wife Jinkee with excerpts from multiple Bible passages,
including Leviticus 20:13: “If a man has sexual relations with a
man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is
detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on
their own heads.”
The post was deleted within hours.
Pacquiao, who is running for a seat in
the Philippine Senate, earlier this week told local station TV5: “It's
common sense. Will you see any animals where male is to male and
female is to female?”
“The animals are better. They know
how to distinguish male from female. If we approve [of] male on
male, female on female, then man is worse than animals.”
He later apologized, saying in a
Facebook post that he stands by his opposition to marriage equality
“because of what the Bible says” but he's “not condemning
LGBT.”
Nike called Pacquiao's comments
“abhorrent” and reiterated its support for LGBT rights.