Orson Scott Card's Superman Story Shelved After Homophobia Controversy

An anonymous reader writes "A controversy has been brewing in the comic community for the past month. Orson Scott Card, author of Ender's Game and its many sequels, was tapped to write a story for the new Adventures of Superman comic. The controversy arose because Card has become an outspoken opponent of gay marriage, going so far as to say giving it legal recognition could mark 'the end of democracy in America,' and suggesting 'traditional' married people will eventually have to overthrow the government. Many fans of the series objected, and some retailers decided they wouldn't stock the issue Card's story appears in. Now, the illustrator for Card's story, Chris Sprouse, has walked away from the project, saying he wasn't comfortable with the media surrounding the story. Because of that, Card's story is being replaced in the Adventures of Superman anthology. 'The news has inspired speculation about whether or not this could mean that DC will quietly kill off the controversial Card story entirely, with some suggesting that the story remaining un-illustrated gives the publisher an "out" to avoid any potential breach-of-contract legal response.' Personally, I'm not sure what to think about this. I enjoyed Ender's Game as a kid, and it tarnishes the experience a little to know that its authors can say such hateful things. On the other hand, Card seems to have kept his personal views out of his fiction, and it's unlikely DC would let him put those views into a Superman comic even if he wanted to. It's a free country; people are free to believe stupid things. On the third hand, he is actively advocating his views outside his fiction, and what better way is there for readers to fight back than organizing a boycott and voting with their wallets? What do you think, Slashdot?"

Comments

Re:This is just stupid.

[l0ungeb0y]

Perhaps you'd understand a bit better if he'd had said the same thing about having a "nagger as a president"?
What you've really said is that in your mind gays don't deserve any show of support against DISCRIMINATION BY RABID BIGGOTS.

Funny how Card can go on about the injustice of seing Enders Game constantly being put on banned book lists by "Mormon hating Christian Fundies" but is such an open and vocal biggotry against homosexuals.

Frankly, Card can go fuck himself. Calling for the overthrow of the government to force biggotry on all of us, is just plain fascist.
I think we should imprison this asshole for sedition.

UNtil now I was looking forward to seeing the upcoming Enders Game movie - now the idea makes me feel sick.
I don't want to support the works of a vocal biggot who is calling for waging war on the American Government and people who want an open and free society.

Re:I'm not even a fan, but

[BasilBrush]

Is there nothing so stupid a libertarian won't say it?

Re:I'm not even a fan, but

[Vreejack]

Didn't push his agenda?

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the The National Organization for Marriage--an American non-profit political organization established in 2007 to work against legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. He also wrote an essay titled, "Homosexual Marriage and Civilization," in which he wrote:

The dark secret of homosexual society—the one that dares not speak its name—is how many homosexuals first entered into that world through a disturbing seduction or rape or molestation or abuse, and how many of them yearn to get out of the homosexual community and live normally.

Re:I'm not even a fan, but

[rochrist]

Piss off.

Marriage isn't about homosexuality.

[gillbates]

Even if you thought homosexuality was the epitome of bliss, and every gay person a saint, you'd eventually have to come to grips with the fact that no gay person came into this world except through the union of male and female.

So, if you were gay, why wouldn't you honor traditional marriage as something sacred, yet different from the relationship you have? Why would you tear down the relationship which produced the person you love?

My belief is that gays want their relationship to be accepted for what it is, not for the rest of the heterosexual community to treat them as pseudo-heterosexuals. That's what "gay marriage" is - a way of saying "we don't really accept what you do, but we'd rather avoid the conflict, because, personally, you're not worth fighting over."

Moreover, not every homosexual dies of AIDS, but enough of them do that to legitimize the gay lifestyle is to wish pain and misery on someone who is already struggling with who they are, and with temptations they are loathe to admit. If we loved them, we would help them to understand their struggle is the same struggle we all face, for as scripture say, "All have fallen short of the glory of God". Every one of us was "born that way". Not all are tempted as gays are tempted, but everyone is tempted by something. Everyone starts out separated from God, and for someone who can't even talk about their struggle, their fight for dignity and self worth must seem particularly difficult.

Well, difficult to someone who hasn't been married. I've seen marriage redefined in my lifetime from something which was sacred and permanent, to something which is little more than a formal expression that two people feel something strong for each other. It might be called love, but "love" has so many meanings as to render the expression meaningless. I've also seen the societal cost of redefining marriage - from legal divorce, to no-fault divorce, to common-law marriage, all with disastrous consequences. Nearly half of new marriages fail. This is not a problem of gay rights, but of society's fundamental (mis) understanding of marriage. It is a relationship instituted by God between a man and a woman, for as long as they live. When the societal definition of marriage is changed from this one, people suffer:

• No-fault divorce has resulted in many divorces which shouldn't have happened; most of them occur in the first 5 years of marriage, which are typically the most difficult time for the newly-married couple. I've never known anyone for whom getting divorced made them happier than getting married.
• As men age, the typically acquire the wealth which makes them attractive to younger women. As women age, they typically gain fat which makes them less attractive to younger men. With the possibility of no-fault divorce, a woman knows that younger women remain an ever-present threat to the stability of their relationship with their husband, and this in turn affects their relationships with the rest of the community. In a society in which marriage was permanent, and divorce subject to great social stigma, this threat wouldn't exist. Instead, we now have a society in which women experience numerous unwarranted emotional and psychological issues related to their body image.
• Having lived through two divorces, neither of which needed to happen, I can say truthfully that I don't wish that experience on anyone. Yet the acceptance of gay marriage transforms the societal understanding of marriage from an act of service and giving to another, to merely a relationship in which two people feel something strongly for each other. Such an understanding belittles the very real and serious struggles that married people face, and undermines the support that marriage typically provided for children (i.e. being raised in a stable home, with a loving mother and father).

The redefinition of marriage is a serious issue for heterosexuals, because the changing notion of marriage has resulted in more mis