Follow-Up to South Park Call to Action
November 16, 2009
Dear GLAAD Supporter:
Thank you for your response regarding the South Park “F Word” episode. We have heard from many who believe we acted harshly in our stance. We have also heard from those who supported our stance. The responses indicate how widely our experiences and perspectives vary.
We continue to believe this word is associated with violence and hatred, as evidenced by incidents in the last six months:
- In Seattle, a gay couple’s home was tagged, “faggots rape kids.” The tagger was arrested but the case dismissed.
- An Illinois teacher discussing arts funding said to his class: “How would you feel about your tax dollars going to pay for some black fag in New York to take pictures of other black fags?” He walked away with only a warning.
- In San Francisco, a city usually perceived as safe and accepting, the streetcar dedicated to Harvey Milk was defaced. What was the word used? “Fag.”
- In Kalamazoo where voters recently upheld anti-gay discrimination, a 15-year old was punched repeatedly in the head while being called “faggot.”
According to Trevor Project, LGBT youth who experience harassment are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.
However, we’ve listened to all of the responses in support of South Park and we believe, upon reflection, that those who have encouraged us to see more in this episode than typical satire are right. The show’s writers were trying to get people to think deeper about this subject.
What this show has done is provoke debate and that’s a good thing. At the end of the day, what many of us here at GLAAD believe is that this word will still be used as hate speech, but we can respect the intention of the writers. The episode ends but the discussion goes on for the many who live with an epithet that taunts them daily and creates a climate of fear and intimidation. The attention in the media that the Call to Action received started important conversations in print, on comment sections of online articles, on Facebook, and around the office water cooler about this word. We hope these discussions will continue–not just with those of us in media–but with school administrators, teachers and students. We hope that these conversations will result in people thinking twice before it is spoken – especially when they hear it in schools and playgrounds as a means of bullying LGBT youth.
We will continue the important task of working with media about how LGBT issues are handled. We hope you will keep sharing your thoughts with us about what matters to you.
Truly,
Taj Paxton, Director of Entertainment Media
&
Rich Ferraro, Director of Public Relations
South Park Tries and Fails to Redefine “The F-Word”
November 5, 2009
Last night’s episode of Comedy Central’s long-running animated comedy South Park featured rampant use of the anti-gay slurs “f*g” and “f****t” as Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny attempted to drive a local biker gang out of town.
In “The F-Word,” life in South Park has been disrupted by a loud and disruptive biker gang. Cartman ultimately takes it upon himself to inform the gang that “everyone thinks you’re total f*gs.” When the South Park kids then tag “F*GS GET OUT” all over town, first the gay residents and ultimately the entire town take offense at the anti-gay rhetoric. When the mayor gathers all of the kids together to ask why anyone would spray paint such hateful anti-gay messages, the kids are taken aback, not realizing that the F-word was hurtful to the LGBT community.
Stan: “Why would we want gay people to get out of town?”
Cartman: “Oh, they think we meant gay f*gs.”
Kyle: “Oh, hey that’s not very nice mayor. Just because a person is gay doesn’t mean he’s a f*g.”
It is then revealed that, to the children of South Park, “f*g” does not refer to gay people at all but rather to people who “ride a loud Harley up and down the streets ruining everyone’s nice time.” Thus, a “gay f*g” is only a “f*g” if he is an obnoxious biker and a straight person who is considering buying a motorcycle is “bike-curious.” Eventually, the boys convince the head dictionary editor to change the definition of the F-word to read:
“Fag n. 1. An extremely annoying, inconsiderate person most commonly associated with Harley riders.
2. A person who owns or frequently rides a Harley.”
GLAAD disagrees. Though the writers of South Park attempted to craft a commentary on the shifting meaning of words, the fact of the matter is that the F-word is and remains a hateful slur that is often the last word heard by LGBT people as they fall victim to hate crimes. Just this year, 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover of Massachusetts hung himself, unable to endure further anti-gay bullying at school which included constant use of the F-Word.
South Park was right on one point: all too commonly, more and more people are using the F-word as a seemingly benign insult, unaware or unconcerned about the word’s anti-gay meaning. However, the spread of the word in this manner does not make it okay to use. Mickey Rourke and Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson recently learned this lesson as GLAAD reiterated the need for all uses of this slur to end.
GLAAD encourages you to contact Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, as well as Comedy Central, to share your personal stories of the negative impact the F-word and other anti-gay slurs have had on your life. It is important that the people behind South Park realize that the F-word is not just a harmless insult; it is a hateful word with often violent consequences.
South Park Studios Official Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/southpark. (You will have to become a “fan” in order to leave a message.)
Steve Albani
Comedy Central SVP, Corporate Communications
(212) 767-8695
steve.albani@comedycentral.com
Lisa Leingang
Comedy Central SVP, Programming
212-654-5866
lisa.leingang@comedycentral.com
Comedy Central Comment Line:
(212) 767-8600
**UPDATE: CALL TO ACTION: Tell South Park’s Creators About the Harms Caused By Slur-Filled “The F-Word”
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