The group behind the boycott of the upcoming Ender”s Game film insists that while Lionsgate has publicly rejected the anti-gay views and activism of author Orson Scott Card and the National Organization for Marriage, the studio still hasn”t gone far enough. However, it”s unclear what more the organization wants.
“A benefit premiere, indeed any outreach to the LGBT community by Lionsgate, ought to be much appreciated,” Geeks OUT said in a statement issued this morning (below). “What”s clear is that whether or not they support his views, Lionsgate is standing by their man and their would-be blockbuster. They made the common, perhaps cynical, calculation that audiences wouldn”t connect Ender”s Game with Card”s very public homophobia – or wouldn”t care. Geeks OUT appreciates that most American families work for every dollar and care deeply about where that money goes and what it supports.”
A board member of the National Organization for Marriage, a group dedicated to the opposition of same-sex marriage, Card has tried to link homosexuality to childhood molestation, and advocated home-schooling to ensure children “are not propagandized with the ‘normality” of ‘gay marriage.”” In an 1990 essay, he called for anti-sodomy laws to remain on the books “to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society”s regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society”; he amended that stance 13 years later, when the Supreme Court struck down anti-sodomy laws as unconstitutional. Following rulings by “dictator-judges” in 2008 that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, Card infamously endorsed a government overthrow.
The author issued his own statement about the boycott earlier this week, saying, in part, that “With the recent Supreme Court ruling, the gay marriage issue becomes moot. The Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution will, sooner or later, give legal force in every state to any marriage contract recognized by any other state. Now it will be interesting to see whether the victorious proponents of gay marriage will show tolerance toward those who disagreed with them when the issue was still in dispute.”
Here”s the full Geeks OUT statement:
As proud members of the LGBT community, champions of creative freedom and honest self-expression, and a group at whom the film Ender”s Game is directly marketed, we appreciate Lionsgate”s record of doing good things and its admirable, strongly worded rejection of Ender”s Game author Orson Scott Card”s and the National Organization of Marriage”s anti-gay activism.
The simple fact is that Skip Ender”s Game has never been about the content of the novel or the film Ender”s Game. It”s about money. It”s about the millions of dollars the company has already paid to Card and the potential millions he and the National Organization for Marriage stand to make off of the success of the film-our money.
A benefit premiere, indeed any outreach to the LGBT community by Lionsgate, ought to be much appreciated. What”s clear is that whether or not they support his views, Lionsgate is standing by their man and their would-be blockbuster. They made the common, perhaps cynical, calculation that audiences wouldn”t connect Ender”s Game with Card”s very public homophobia-or wouldn”t care. Geeks OUT appreciates that most American families work for every dollar and care deeply about where that money goes and what it supports.
Skip Ender”s Game is not a threat; it is a reality. Our pledge adds hundreds of signtatures every day from sci-fi fans around the world who would rather stay home than support homophobia. We have only just started and Geeks OUT and its allies are prepared to carry on past November 1. Nothing Card nor Lionsgate has said changes the fact that skipping Ender”s Game is the easiest way to ensure none of your dollars go to Orson Scott Card”s and the National Organization of Marriage”s extreme anti-gay agenda.
Directed by Gavin Hood, Ender”s Game stars Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley. The film opens Nov. 1.