Josh Aloiai has broken his silence on the Pride Jersey saga. revealing he and his family received death threats ... also saying that the same thing will happen next year (when Manly play in the Pride jersey during 2023. Penn has said this will be happening).
Josh Aloiai says
“(We received) death threats, my family got threats, I got threats about my son,” Aloiai told
Channel Nine.
“You should never be put in a situation where your religious views or cultural views and beliefs conflict with your job.
“Our atheist boys, for Easter round, (if) we wanted to wear a Christian jersey and they weren’t comfortable in doing that... it’s all the same – I will support them.
“We still have nothing but respect for people that choose to live that way of life.
“We personally don’t want to live that way or endorse it but, at the same time, we quietly took our stance and didn’t say anything hateful or hurtful.
“Instead we were the ones that were called everything under the sun.”
Aloiai said his gay sister accepted his viewpoint to not wear the jersey.
“Me and her (have a tight relationship) and she knows that I love her to bits,” Aloiai said.
“Throughout all this happening, we did have a chat and she totally understood where I was coming from.
“She rang me up and was like: ‘How are you going? You all right? It’s so crazy the way the media has blown this out of proportion’.”
Asked about wearing the pride jersey next season:
“The short answer is no, I won’t,” Aloiai revealed.
“We didn’t compromise this year and we won’t compromise next year or the year after.
“A difference of opinion is not a difference of respect.”
