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Boxer Manny Pacquiao Banned From The Grove, Denies Anti-Gay Rant

Welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao took a tumble this week when he attacked marriage equality and cited the biblical death penalty for homosexual relations, in article with the right-wing National Conservative Examiner.

As a result, Pacquiao has been banned from the Grove shopping mall in Los Angeles, where the entertainment-news show Extra is filmed. Grove owner Rick J. Caruso tweeted “Boxer Manny Pacquiao is not welcome at @TheGroveLA. @TheGroveLA is a gathering place for all Angelenos, not a place for intolerance.”

In his interview with the Inquisitor, the boxer—who’s also a right-wing congressman in his native Philippines—is quoted as saying “God only expects man and woman to be together and to be legally married,” and that same-sex unions “adulterate the altar of matrimony.” The article also quoted Leviticus 20:13—”If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman… they must be put to death,” leading many to believe Pacquiao was advocating violence against the LGBT community.

The author of the Inqusitor article, Granville Ampong, has since clarified it was he who included the biblical reference, not Pacquiao.

In a post on his website, Pacquiao says he was misrepresented: “I didn’t say that, that’s a lie. I didn’t know that quote from Leviticus because I haven’t read the Book of Leviticus yet.”

He did however, affirm that “same-sex marriage is against the law of God.”

Even though he hasn’t read the Bible.

In other news, 50 Shades of Grey says people with hazel eyes are the spawn of the Devil.

Photo: Frederick Manligas Nacino

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