Pacquiao
is WACKiao: The Filiqueerno Navigation of Gay and Pinoy Pride.
by
Nicole Espinosa
In
preparation for the third Pacquiao vs Bradley match, I will not be making the
pilgrimage to Las Vegas, as many Filipinos do, to monetarily and morally
support arguably the most visible Filipino in transnational popular culture.
This is partly because I already live in Las Vegas and I purposefully avoid The
Strip — especially during fight nights. Additionally, I will not order the
fight on pay-per-view and will not assemble with relatives or with other
Filipinos in someone’s garage-turned-rec room to watch it.
My
resignation from Team Pacquiao happened at least four years ago. As a queer
Filipino-American, I cannot cheer for someone who has described the entire LGBTQIA community as being “worse
than animals.”
Let’s revisit the interview that first threatened Pacquiao’s earning capability
in 2012: former Examiner.com contributor Granville Ampong fabricated a quote by Pacquiao citing Leviticus 20:13 in
response to President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage. Ampong’s
non-journalism aside, I was not the least bit surprised by Pacquiao’s alleged homophobia. Pacquiao has always presented himself as a
God-fearing man. Having parents who were raised as devout Catholics, who then
raised me as devout Mormons, I am more than familiar with the correlation
between the Christian majority and anti-gay, anti-equality sentiment. Yet here
we are four years later: the same passage from Leviticus posted to, and subsequently deleted from, Pacquiao’s
official Instagram account. Pacquiao’s Nike endorsement had just been terminated and he
apparently gave zero Fs about it.
“But he said ‘sorry.’” But I don’t care. Pacquiao’s half-apology
doesn’t reflect the Christ-like attributes he so vehemently pretends to embody.
“But he donates to charities.” But what’s the point of a hand out if you’re not
helping people become self-sufficient and critically thinking members of
society? I digress.
To
throw in my own remix of Beyoncé’s “Formation:” I like my Pinoy nose with
Lapu-Lapu nostrils. I love being Filipino and I cannot allow my Pinoy Pride to
be defined by the scientifically inaccurate and religiously hypocritical
comments made by an individual who embraces anti-intellectualism, has subjected
himself to decades of head trauma, and has shown his inability to maintain the “sanctity” of marriage. I would implore other
Filipinos who don’t agree with Pac-Man’s politics, but continue to rally for
him as an athlete, to reconsider their decision to do so. He’s no José Rizal,
but he also can’t be the only Filipino worth rooting for.
I wrote a (crappy) paper — we'll get to how crazy busy my semester was at another time, on the regression of the Filipino Race Man. I am fully aware of the absurdity of a) a race representative and b) a gendered race representative, but for the purpose of submitting an assignment worth a good chunk of my grade, I wrote about it. It boggles my mind that the Philippines just elected a bozo for a president. But when I think about the history of the Philippines — Spanish colonial rule, American colonial rule, World War II, plunder and oppression of the Marcos regime, it comes as no surprise that the #2 Philippine National Hero after José Rizal would be a stupid boxer. He literally has zero grasp on science or sociology. Again, I have to reiterate that Filipinos aren't the only perpetrators of anti-intellectualism: the GOP Presidential front runner is a misogynist, white supremacist and reality television "star."
There are Filipinos in the media and academia worth rooting for. People besides Rob Schneider, Jo Koy and Nicole Scherzinger. Coincidence that they're all mixed? I can't have a conversation about colorism just yet. I have pizza to eat. Later, hoes. Xoxo Gossip Girl.
