meaning of "As much as I"

meaning of "As much as I"

I'd like to ask you a question.
In the following passage you see bold parts, which my question concerns.
As much as is used in this sense.
"As much as I'd like to apologize, I still don't want to."
But here it doesn't make any sense.
"as however God made them"
Is this grammatically correct?
"shy of getting arrested"
Does this mean he will anything he can as long as it doesn't touch the law?
but here, by saying this kind of thing, he is already in a very sensitive
territory, I think. What does he mean by that?
American track and field star Nick Symmonds has become the first athlete
to criticize Russia's new anti-gay laws while competing on Russian soil.
After he won a silver medal at the World Championships yesterday, Symmonds
told R-Sport he was dedicating the win to his gay and lesbian friends.
He said, "As much as I can speak out about it, I believe that all humans
deserve equality as however God made them. Whether you're gay, straight,
black, white, we all deserve the same rights. If there's anything I can do
to champion the cause and further it, I will, shy of getting arrested."