Hollywood Icon Clint Eastwood Lashes Out at GOP's Homophobia

Clint Eastwood lashed out at the GOP in an interview with Gentleman's Quarterly Magazine, saying that the Republican Party had lost its way, opining that the spirit of the GOP now resides more with the Libertarians, and suggesting that government get out of the way and let people live as they want -- and with whom.

"I was an Eisenhower Republican when I started out at 21, because he promised to get us out of the Korean War," Eastwood, 81, said in his GQ interview, reported Back2Stonewall on Sept. 13.

"And over the years, I realized there was a Republican philosophy that I liked," Eastwood, who has directed two Oscar-winning Best Pictures, continued. "And then they lost it. And libertarians had more of it. Because what I really believe is, let's spend a little more time leaving everybody alone."

The actor has pulled few punches in his long career as an iconic movie tough guy. Eastwood's memorable screen turns have included police officers who take no guff (and few prisoners), working class pranksters who refuse to bow to the system, Wild West gunfighters unafraid to dispense six-shooter justice on the frontier, and -- in 1997's "Absolute Power," a none-too-thinly veiled jab at the Clinton Administration -- a thief who exhibits almost superhuman capabilities in the course of bringing down a corrupt United States president who has committed murder.

The straight-talking actor, producer, and director hardly shied from a frank assessment of marriage equality and the opportunistic politicians who build careers on opposing it.

"These people who are making a big deal about gay marriage? I don't give a fuck about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?!" Eastwood said. "We're making a big deal out of things we shouldn't be making a deal out of," the Hollywood legend added. "Just give everybody the chance to have the life they want."

Eastwood's latest directorial effort, "J. Edgar," stars Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role as, fittingly enough, J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI's first director and, it is thought, a closeted gay man. The film is slated for a November release.

GQ Also spoke with DiCaprio, who commented on the marriage equality issue in his turn, On Top Magazine noted in a Sept. 15 article.

"Seeing politicians without any ideas on how to address real problems, DiCaprio said, is "the most infuriating thing," going on to add, "Meanwhile, there's the onset of global warming and these incredibly scary and menacing things with the future of our economy."