South Park creators come out in support of gay marriage, gun rights

South Park creators come out in support of gay marriage, gun rights

Trey Parker and Matt Stone support gay marriage and gun ownership rights

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have proven notoriously hard to pin down about their political beliefs, both in personal interviews and in their no-holds-barred approach to satirizing any person, institution, or topic under the sun on the show itself.

In a new interview with The Guardian, however, the duo took a clear stance on two specific and very divisive issues.

“Gay marriage and guns,” Parker said. “We’re for both of those.”

“We’re from Colorado, and look at the way Colorado’s gone politically in the last few elections, it’s now gay-friendly, weed-friendly, gun-friendly,” Stone added. “There’s an element of Colorado that I think is in us.”

We might assume from Stone’s statement that the creators of Towelie did not ardently oppose their state’s recent legalization of marijuana.

The interview was held before the recent Sandy Hook elementary shootings that made international headlines and sparked a fresh round of heated debates throughout the United States over proposed gun control legislation.

Parker and Stone, gun owners themselves, presumably were aware of last summer’s Colorado theater shootings during a premier of The Dark Knight Rises when they explained their positions on the issue.

While many have criticized the frequent and derogatory use of the word ‘gay’ on South Park, any ambiguity about the creators’ stance on gay marriage is now resolved.

Some have even questioned whether long time friends Stone and Parker are in fact a couple, though both are currently or recently have been married to women. Others assume the two must have developed frictions after closely working together for so long.

“It’s bullshit,” said Parker in an interview with the band Ween. “Everyone asks us if we hate each other, and if we say no, then they think we’re gay. Then they’re sure we’re gay because we’ve been friends since we were 18 or 19.”

Taking a unified stance that might be considered liberal on gay marriage along with a conservative stance on gun control is representative of the pair’s more outside-the-box political views.

In their recent Guardian interview Stone explained they don’t vote in U.S. elections, “because we’re not allied to one particular side, so it feels painful.”

In an earlier interview with Reason, Stone and Parker acknowledged that their political views could be described most accurately as libertarian (Parker is actually a registered member of the Libertarian Party). They rejected the direction of Republican Party that they described as “more government and more Jesus,” presumably referencing Bush-era defense spending more than recent Tea Party trends on government size.

When asked in an online chat with fans whether they were liberal or conservative, Parker said, “We avoid extremes but we hate liberals more than conservatives and we hate them [conservatives].”

“I hate conservatives but I really fucking hate liberals,” added Stone.

No strangers to controversy, the pair may nonetheless find themselves more exposed to conflicting public views on gay marriage and gun control after taking a personal stance without the satirical shield of South Park.

Of course, any reactions sparked by the announcement will only serve as material for future episodes, as the Emmy award-winning show prepares for its 17th season.

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