Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao became the centre of controversy after he was misquoted as saying that homosexuals are "worse than animals." He lost a lot of fans and supporters from the LGBT community because of that misquote, prompting sporting retail giant Nike to drop him from its list of endorsers.
Despite the criticism hurled on the Filipino boxing lawmaker by members of the LGBT community and their misinformed supporters, his wife Jinkee is trying to maintain an optimistic stance and not let the incident get to her.
On her Instagram account (@jinkeepacquiao), the Christian wife shared a photo of her looking intently on her phone. "Haters gonna hate, but there is no room for negativity in my life and my family. God bless everyone!" she wrote.
Jinkee later shared several verses that support her husband's comments against same-sex romance. One in particular came from John 7:7, which reads: "The world hates me because I testify that their works are evil."
She added the verses John 7:16-18, which states: "So Jesus told them, 'My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me. Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies."
The Pacquiao family still has a lot of supporters even though there have been a lot of backlash against them. One fan even encouraged the family: "Thank you because you choose God, you fight for God's Word."
Another said that "everybody is entitled to their own opinion...whether people like it or not."
Pacquiao has already apologised on his Facebook page for inadvertently hurting the feelings of homosexuals and their supporters, but many are not so forgiving. "I'm sorry for hurting people ... 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," he said.
