Via pretty much everywhere on the sf grapevine comes news that Orson Scott Card is being a reactionary ass-hat again, writing a column for the Mormon Times that states – yes, states, not infers – that same-sex marriage “marks the end of democracy in America”.
WTF?
I guess I’m just lucky to have been raised by parents who taught me to value people by their actions and character rather than their gender, skin colour or sexual preference, but I just don’t understand this attitude. I mean it really makes no sense to me. Why does Card care? Really? How does gay marriage harm him, or anyone else? How does it undermine democracy?
Card’s not a homophobe, though – or so he’d have us believe. I think I’ll leave it to Yonmei at the Feminist SF blog to shred that claim:
He riffs a bit on how
I stopped reading Card years ago. I can’t stand the thought of enriching him after I’ve seen the vicious attacks he’s leveled against gay people. I also think it’s a bit weird how many of his stories are about unusual but very intimate relationships between older men and young boys. Years ago, a lot of gay SF fans looked to Card as one of the few sources for gay themes in SF. How ironic is that? See Songmaster for a prime example. Then look more closely at the relationship between Mazer Rackham and Ender Wiggin.
I’m not gay myself but I do have some close friends who are, so, when I heard about his attitude towards Homosexuality as if it’s a problem that will kill civilization around the globe made me question my action of buying his “Ender’s Game” book about a week before. Like you said Paul…I can’t understand how anyone can judge another person because of this. The World is a screwed up place already…we don’t need to carry on more of the old habits of judgment and prejudice because we need to make life for the next generation better than ours.
I had been hoping to get the rest of his books but after too many public statements like his I can’t agree to do so no matter how much the Sci-Fi Geek in me is screaming and kicking. I’d rather do the right thing and use my dollars as a means to make a point to not give it to people who can’t get past a persons sexual preferences, gender, skin colour, and religious views (or lack of).
Wow…this really caught me off guard. I have known for years that Card was religious but I guess I havent been exposed to this particular brand of wackiness from him. Thats a real shame when there are real issues any American would better spend their energy railing for or against.
I think someone needs to tell Card that the whole “controversial statement as marketing ploy” gambit doesn’t always work.
It probably also won’t help shift as many copies of the new Ender’s Game comic as he hopes.
Wow. I only recently discovered Card (Songmaster) and fell in love – thought the novel was really open-minded re: alternative sexualities… hmmm… guess I’ll have to do some more investigating before going further.