By Jackie Kallen
OK, enough already! Leave Manny alone. I happen to have no problem with gay marriage, and it seems most of you don’t either. But this is America. We have the right to voice our opinions. Manny simply expressed his views. I am tired of people attacking him for it.
Photo: Chris Farina/ Top Rank
I am not sure I believe that he quoted that particular passage from the bible that was attributed to him about gays deserving to die. He is denying that, while admitting freely that he does oppose gay marriage. He has not backed down from his position. Knowing Manny, I doubt he wishes harm to anyone (except his current opponent.)
It was ridiculous for The Grove to ban him from being there. If they ban a person for their views on gay marriage, they should screen each and every person entering that shopping center. I’m sure they’d find many others with far more extreme views on the subject. That is the stupidest move I have ever seen.
Shame on The Grove. I lived in LA for 15 years and I spent at least 2 days a week at that mall. There is a stand there that serves kosher hot dogs. You can be sure that the orthodox Jews eating there are not advocating same-sex marriage. None of them have ever been barred.
This is grandstanding on the part of Rick Caruso, owner of the mall. Who is he kidding? Manny Pacquaio is one of the nicest guys I know. He is great to his fans, helps out those in his country who need help, and by all accounts is an excellent congressman.
Bristol Palin is welcome at The grove, but she openly came out against president Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage. A recent poll stated that only 39% of African Americans agree with same-sex marriage, yet there are plenty of AA shoppers at The Grove every day.
Manny has a tough fight coming up in a few weeks. He needs to train hard and focus on that. It seems there are always haters out there hoping to derail Pacman’s train. He hasn’t lost a fight in over seven years and that pisses off the anti-Manny faction. They want to see him go down in flames.
People need to “get a life.” There are far more bigoted and dangerous people out there. There are those who would willingly hurt a gay person and who are truly homophobic. Manny Pacquaio does not hate gays. He knows many and has no problem with them. He simply believes that marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman.
Jackie Kallen is a boxing manager who has been in the business for over three decades. Her life inspired the Meg Ryan film “Against the Ropes” and she was a part of the NBC series “The Contender.” www.JackieKallen.com, www.facebook.com/JackieKallen
