Pacquiao denounces anti-gay allegations Pacquiao denounces anti-gay allegations ADVERTISING LOS ANGELES — Manny Pacquiao says he loves and supports gays and lesbians, even though he does not approve of gay marriage. The world champion boxer and Filipino congressman has been
Pacquiao denounces anti-gay allegations
LOS ANGELES — Manny Pacquiao says he loves and supports gays and lesbians, even though he does not approve of gay marriage.
The world champion boxer and Filipino congressman has been criticized ever since he gave an interview to the examiner.com website in which he opposed President Barack Obama’s support for gay marriage.
Pacquiao said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press that he doesn’t support gay marriage because of his Roman Catholic beliefs. But he said he has gay friends and relatives, and supports their rights.
“I’m not against the gay people,” Pacquiao said. “I’m not condemning them. … I have a cousin (who is) gay. I have relatives (who are) gay. I have a lot of friends (who are) gay, so I’m not condemning gays. What I said is I’m not in favor of same-sex marriage. That’s the one thing I said to the guy.
“I told (the reporter) I’m against same-sex marriage,” Pacquiao added. “He said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘It’s the law of God.’ That’s all I said.”
The examiner.com story contained a Bible passage calling for the death of “a man (who) lies with a man,” and Pacquiao said many readers erroneously believed he had quoted that verse.
He said he had not.
Bodemeister 8-5 morning line favorite in Preakness
BALTIMORE — Just like in the Kentucky Derby, Bodemeister is the favorite in the Preakness.
This time, Bob Baffert intends to justify the odds.
Despite finishing second in the Derby, Bodemeister was installed as the 8-5 favorite for Saturday’s second leg of the Triple Crown. The colt, trained by Bob Baffert, set the pace at Churchill Downs before being overtaken in the stretch by I’ll Have Another, who won by 1 1/2 lengths.
I’ll Have Another is the second-favorite in the Preakness at 5-2.
Pacers’ Larry Bird is NBA Executive of the Year
NEW YORK — Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird was voted the NBA’s Executive of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the first person to win that award, plus the MVP and Coach of the Year honors.
The Pacers went 42-24 and are tied 1-1 with Miami in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Bird’s moves to strengthen the team during the offseason included promoting Frank Vogel from interim to head coach and signing starting forward David West.
He acquired point guard George Hill in a draft-night deal with San Antonio, and traded for Lou Amundson and Leandro Barbosa to fortify the bench for the Pacers, who earned the No. 3 seed in the East and had the fifth-best record in the league.
Federer shows off form with easy win in Rome
ROME — Fresh off a title in Madrid and back up to No. 2 in the rankings, Roger Federer showed off his strong form with a routine 6-3, 6-4 win over Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in his opening match at the Italian Open on Wednesday.
Rafael Nadal, who was replaced by Federer at No. 2 with his Madrid Open victory Sunday, beat Florian Mayer 6-1, 7-5 to get even for a defeat in his only previous meeting with the 28th-ranked German.
In women’s action, top-ranked Victoria Azarenka routed Shahar Peer of Israel 6-1, 6-2 then announced she was withdrawing because of a right shoulder injury.
From wire sources
