Subscribe to Breaking News
Loading ...South Park gay episode called ‘extremist’ by Russian prosecutors
09.09.2008 2:29pm EDT
(Moscow) An episode of the cartoon comedy South Park has been labeled as extremist by Russian prosecutors, who have issued a warning to the Russian TV station that broadcast it.
The Prosecutor General’s Office did not identify which episode its investigators found objectionable, but said it “offends the honor and dignity of Christians and Muslims and insults the feelings of believers irrespective of their faith.”Prosecutors issued the warning to private TV channel 2×2, which aired the episode on Jan. 9, and said they had appealed to a Moscow court to declare the episode extremist.
The all-cartoon 2×2 channel has received similar warnings in recent months about other animated series, leading to some media speculation that it may be the target of a takeover attempt. Corrupt Russian law enforcement officials are often used to force a change in company ownership.
Representatives of 2×2 could not be reached for comment Monday evening. General director Roman Sarkisov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying he would defend the channel in court.
South Park’s creators, who have also made a feature-length movie, routinely take satirical jabs at politicians, celebrities, religion and sexuality. With heavy parody and scatological humor, the made-for-adults program follows a group of children living in a fictional U.S. town.
Russian prosecutors opened their investigation into the South Park episode after receiving complaints from Russian Protestant leaders, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.
RIA-Novosti quoted the head of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians, Konstantin Bendas, as saying prosecutors should ban the South Park cartoons on the grounds that they contain “covert and overt propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia as norms of sexual life.”
Earlier this year, some Russian Protestant leaders asked for the channel’s broadcasting license to be revoked, the agency said.
Putin and Medvedev are what is keeping Russia a morally sick country. Even though Mikheil Saakashvili (President of Georgia) should never have bombed Ossetia (Samachablo to the Georgians) to force Ossetia to not dtift away, Russia is doing to Georgia a bit of what it did to Chechmya when Putin was Russian president. It is trying to keep Georgia unstable and insecure by not withdrawing its forces and by blatantly terrorizing the Georgian people on a daily basis. People living daily lives who had nothing to do the problems of Ossetia and Abkhazia. The Georgian Times provides a daily window onto how the Russians are trying to ruin and destroy this ancient country in the Caucasus and its people and how the Georgian president and his goverment are trying to do what’s in their power to stand up to the Russians without getting totally wiped out in the process, do what they can to help their people, rebuild ruined infrastructure, replant trees in their national park after it was firebombed from the air by the Russians, and build relationships with as many countries as possible.
Wow!! It’s getting better and better. Keep it up man.,
I feel like a complete blank, but what can I say?,
A good site, good short contents of the good work. I have loved your site :,
A good site, good short contents of the good work. Congratulations !,
Thanks for all you do in helping me fulfill my dreams.,
“This is the result of American Evangelicals going over there and trying to get a culture war started.”
OMG! Here we go again blaming America for something happening 6,000 miles away! I swear it never gets old! Actually, Russia’s orthodx church is doing a pretty good job of keeping Russia 50 years behind the US in gay rights. Also, 75 years of communism hasn’t helped. You people on the left (yes i’m gay but not a leftist) are reallly a joke. You cannot resist trashing America even when a story has nothing to do with America. If you’re worried about Christianity spreading, I hope you voice as much concern about the most popular religion today, Islam. Once they get in control of your precious western europe, you won’t have anyplace to vacation.
The Russians are finally getting South Park? They really are 20 years behind. This is the result of American Evangelicals going over there and trying to get a culture war started. South Park is meant to be offensive, and it really takes no prisoners. It always has a moral at the end and is extremely funny even while offending. The Russian Evangelicals need to catch up to the 21st century and get a life.
“covert and overt propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia as norms of sexual life.” Oh so Mr Garrison is normal? With a hand puppet? The arguement lumping us in with pedophiles is a scare tactic used by Carl Rove and has no basis in truth. If the Russians can’t handle this, do not let them see Pink Flamingos, they will totally blow a gasket!
“offends the honor and dignity of Christians and Muslims and insults the feelings of believers irrespective of their faith.”
that’s the point…hello!
maybe the christian loonies just shouldn’t watch the show. get a life. when do we get to start suing the religious right for irritating the crap out of us and trying to shove their nonsense down our throats?