Clint Eastwood is a complex fellow.

Or, let me put it this way: Clint Eastwood is not your typical, 21st century, cookie-cutter Republican; meaning, his views do not necessarily follow the script or toe the expected party line. Which makes him a very unusual Republican. And his own man.

Frankly, though, it seems a good many Republicans lately – 100 and counting – are taking an unusual stand on the issue of same-sex marriage, and Clint Eastwood has just joined them. Along with those 100 Republicans, including Jon Huntsman and Christine Todd Whitman, Eastwood has signed a brief to be delivered to the Supreme Court in support of gay marriage and the striking down of California’s anti-gay marriage bill, Proposition 8.

The iconic actor/director has long been known as a libertarian with conservative leanings, never one to be easily pegged. When he narrated the infamous Super Bowl 2012 Chrysler commercial with its spin on the comeback of Detroit and the rescue of the auto industry, Republicans were “offended,” as Karl Rove opined to Fox News shortly after. Eastwood didn’t support the auto bailout and, though he voted for John McCain in 2008, claimed at the time that “he no longer identifies with the GOP and doesn’t know who he’s voting for in 2012.”





But before Democrats could get too cozy with their new “blue collar” brethren, the Republican National Convention happened and all bets were off. Eastwood’s infamous improv with an empty chair sitting in for President Obama was seen by some as insulting and in poor taste (“What do you want me to tell Romney? I can’t tell him to do that, he can’t do that to himself.”). Others felt the humor fell flat and made Eastwood look like a doddering idiot. Still some thought it worked in the President’s favor, in that all anyone was talking about after the convention was Eastwood’s inanity rather than the actual candidates. Whatever the intent, the “accidentally ironic” moment took him off the list as a Democratic party go-to guy.

So, for some, it’s a bit of a surprise that he’d step out now to take a stand on marriage equality and Prop. 8. Those who know him better say it’s completely in character; in fact, even back in 2011 he made the point in a GQ interview with Leonardo DiCaprio:

“I don’t give a f**k about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We’re making a big deal out of things we shouldn’t be making a deal out of … Just give everybody the chance to have the life they want.”

So his stand on Prop. 8 seems in keeping with that spirit. From Breitbart, which first reported the story:

Breitbart News has learned exclusively that Clint Eastwood has signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, supporting the right of same-sex couples to marry. The brief, which will be released later this evening, has signatures from more than 100 Republican and conservative activists. It involves the case before the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn CA’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state.

In a piece titled Prominent GOPers Send Message To SCOTUS: Affirm Gays’ Right To Marry, the point is made that the position of the signing Republicans is, in fact, a logical one, given the general “small government” mission statement of the Republican party:

The basic argument contained in the brief is that acknowledging the validity of same-sex marriage promotes the conservative values of limited government and individual freedom. In addition, it strengthens families by allowing the children of such unions to grow up in two-parent homes.

As for Clint, he not only supports that notion, he thinks the country has a whole lot better things to think about and focus on than people’s personal lives. During a 2012 appearance on The Ellen Show, he made the point; as reported by The Huffington Post:

…He defines himself as a Libertarian, and that his stance on marriage equality is “a part of the libertarian idea: Leave everybody alone!”He then went on to note, “The condition of society right now, with the high unemployment rates and the tremendous debt we’re increasing and the government spending, we’d think there’d be [many more worthy issues] to think about [rather] that worrying about gay marriage.”

Sounds good, Clint.

For another recent story on Clint Eastwood: Clint Eastwood ‘Swatted’ In A New And Dangerous Abuse Of 911 Emergency System

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