episodes function not as part of a larger discursive web, but as media texts encoded in a manner similar to that of The Simpsons". "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" also explores and satirizes people's reactions to homosexuality through Stan and other characters who react to Sparky's behavior. For example, Stan admits he does not even know what being gay includes, except simply that it "is bad". Also, when Cartman suggests to Stan that Sparky might be at the mall buying leather pants, it satirizes the stereotype that all gay men are engaged in the leather subculture. The episode also mocks what many LGBT activists perceive as hatred and misunderstandings about homosexuality often expressed by anti-LGBT and right-wing activists, including Christian ministers Jerry Falwell and Fred Phelps. This is partially illustrated in this episode by Mr. Garrison's condemnation of homosexuals, rooted in deep-seated fear of his own sexuality. Basing his comment off this episode, Gardiner commented that South Park had a "Queer Lite" attitude towards homosexuality, stating "they are unemphatically tolerant, polymorphously perverse, ambiguously gay affirmative". Cultural references and impact The South Park football team plays a rival team from Middle Park, Colorado. Like South Park itself, Middle Park is an actual basin in the Rocky Mountains of north-central Colorado. Matt Stone said the Middle Park kids were made to seem richer and cooler than the South Park students because that was the perception real South Park residents have of the actual Middle Park. Richard Stamos, who sings during halftime in the episode's football game, is the fictional brother of John Stamos, a real-life actor best known for his roles on Full House and ER. Trey Parker and Matt Stone did not know Stamos when they wrote "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride", but Parker said they assumed he was "a big douche" because of his role on Full House, which Parker called "just the most horrible thing ever put on television". Since the episode aired, however, Parker and Stone have become acquainted with Stamos and found him to be "a really, really cool guy". John Stamos told them he loved the inclusion of the Richard Stamos character in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride". Richard Stamos sings "Lovin' You", a 1975 hit single by singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton. Parker chose it because he felt it was a popular song in the gay community, and also because, "I've